Taking Stitch to Hawaii and NOT Leaving Him There
- Thread starter dolphingirl47
- Start date
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
I will hopefully post another installment tomorrow, but just quickly wanted to check in to say that I have booked another cruise for November. I found a rate that I simply could not refuse. So I better get this trip report finished before I get to do the next one.
Corinna
Corinna
dgbg100106
Missing the Tag Fiary
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2008
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Day 19
This morning Mickey called again at 7:00. After all the sea days, we would have another day in port. As the Disney Wonder is registered in the Bahamas, we had to have one foreign port on the itinerary, which in this case was Ensenada, Mexico. I was not quite sure what to make of this port and I had not heard much positive about it. At one stage I had seriously considered just staying on the ship. Eventually the temptation of a tequila tasting excursion proved too tempting. Unfortunately a couple of weeks before we were due to leave for our holiday, I got an email from Disney Cruise Line informing me that this excursion had been cancelled. As Graham had booked an independent excursion to go kayaking and I did not want to stay on the ship on my own, I had another look at the excursions on offer and decided on the Adults Only Wine Country excursion. At $36, this was the cheapest excursion I have ever done.
When we went upstairs for breakfast, we were already docked. Just outside the portholes on deck 3 were some animals on a rock that we thought were seals, but on closer look actually turned out to be sea lions. This was pretty amazing. Prior to this trip, I had never seen sea lions in the wild and now I had seen them twice on one holiday. There is two things to be said about sea lions: they are very noisy and they stink. Once we had admired the sea lions for a while, we headed to Parrot Cay. I did not really feel like breakfast, but considering that an important element of my excursion was wine tasting, I knew that I had to eat something. I managed to get some sausages, hash browns and an omelette down. Graham had some fresh fruit, yoghurt and a full cooked breakfast. We both had coffee and orange juice.
After breakfast, we said goodbye to each other. Graham did not have to leave for his excursion until later, but was thinking about exploring the town for a bit. My meeting time was soon after breakfast. I quickly headed back to our cabin to pick up my camera, which I had forgotten to take earlier. I encountered something rather amusing. There were a number of housekeeping staff with air-freshener wandering around trying to mask the very strong smell of the sea lions that was wafting around the ship. This was a bit of a lost cause though.
Once I had picked up my camera, I headed back to deck 3 for the Promenade Lounge, where the meeting point for my excursion was. Considering how many people had said on our cruise meet thread that they would stay on the ship at Ensenada, I was surprised how many people were there. They needed multiple buses again. There were a number of people there that I knew so I chatted with them while we waited. There were a number of buses again and it was very well organised. They sent us down as they were ready for us. In order to get to the bus, we had to go through a little market that had been set up in the terminal building. This actually turned out to be a blessing on the way back.
Once we were on the bus, our guide introduced herself and our driver. She then told us a bit about Ensenada. Essentially she was de-bunking a lot of the myth that I had heard prior to coming. Ensenada is a university town and especially renowned for the sciences. People from all over the world, including many from the USA, come to Ensenada to study. People there are very educated with 1 in 7 people being a scientist. Everybody also learns English from a very young age so everybody in Ensenada is fluent in English and Spanish. Unemployment is extremely low and crime rates are very low as well. We also found out why all the sea lions are at the port. There is a seafood processing plant nearby and they dispose of their scraps in this area. I suppose this is recycling at its finest.
Soon we left Ensenada and headed out into the countryside. We found out a bit more about the surround area. Ensenada is part of the state of Baja California, which is also the state in which Cabo San Lucas is located. This is hard to believe both in terms of the sheer distance involved between the two and also how different the landscapes are. The area around Ensenada is very definitely wine country.
Soon we arrived at the first of the two Wineries that we would visit that day. L.A. Cetto is quite a big operation. The original owner came to Mexico from Italy. There were so many wineries in Italy that he did not think he could make a new business work. So he came to Mexico and once he realized that the climate and soil are similar to that in the wine-growing areas of California, he settled near Ensenada. The winery is now run by the grandson of the original owner and the wine is exported to 27 different countries.
This morning Mickey called again at 7:00. After all the sea days, we would have another day in port. As the Disney Wonder is registered in the Bahamas, we had to have one foreign port on the itinerary, which in this case was Ensenada, Mexico. I was not quite sure what to make of this port and I had not heard much positive about it. At one stage I had seriously considered just staying on the ship. Eventually the temptation of a tequila tasting excursion proved too tempting. Unfortunately a couple of weeks before we were due to leave for our holiday, I got an email from Disney Cruise Line informing me that this excursion had been cancelled. As Graham had booked an independent excursion to go kayaking and I did not want to stay on the ship on my own, I had another look at the excursions on offer and decided on the Adults Only Wine Country excursion. At $36, this was the cheapest excursion I have ever done.
When we went upstairs for breakfast, we were already docked. Just outside the portholes on deck 3 were some animals on a rock that we thought were seals, but on closer look actually turned out to be sea lions. This was pretty amazing. Prior to this trip, I had never seen sea lions in the wild and now I had seen them twice on one holiday. There is two things to be said about sea lions: they are very noisy and they stink. Once we had admired the sea lions for a while, we headed to Parrot Cay. I did not really feel like breakfast, but considering that an important element of my excursion was wine tasting, I knew that I had to eat something. I managed to get some sausages, hash browns and an omelette down. Graham had some fresh fruit, yoghurt and a full cooked breakfast. We both had coffee and orange juice.
After breakfast, we said goodbye to each other. Graham did not have to leave for his excursion until later, but was thinking about exploring the town for a bit. My meeting time was soon after breakfast. I quickly headed back to our cabin to pick up my camera, which I had forgotten to take earlier. I encountered something rather amusing. There were a number of housekeeping staff with air-freshener wandering around trying to mask the very strong smell of the sea lions that was wafting around the ship. This was a bit of a lost cause though.
Once I had picked up my camera, I headed back to deck 3 for the Promenade Lounge, where the meeting point for my excursion was. Considering how many people had said on our cruise meet thread that they would stay on the ship at Ensenada, I was surprised how many people were there. They needed multiple buses again. There were a number of people there that I knew so I chatted with them while we waited. There were a number of buses again and it was very well organised. They sent us down as they were ready for us. In order to get to the bus, we had to go through a little market that had been set up in the terminal building. This actually turned out to be a blessing on the way back.
Once we were on the bus, our guide introduced herself and our driver. She then told us a bit about Ensenada. Essentially she was de-bunking a lot of the myth that I had heard prior to coming. Ensenada is a university town and especially renowned for the sciences. People from all over the world, including many from the USA, come to Ensenada to study. People there are very educated with 1 in 7 people being a scientist. Everybody also learns English from a very young age so everybody in Ensenada is fluent in English and Spanish. Unemployment is extremely low and crime rates are very low as well. We also found out why all the sea lions are at the port. There is a seafood processing plant nearby and they dispose of their scraps in this area. I suppose this is recycling at its finest.
Soon we left Ensenada and headed out into the countryside. We found out a bit more about the surround area. Ensenada is part of the state of Baja California, which is also the state in which Cabo San Lucas is located. This is hard to believe both in terms of the sheer distance involved between the two and also how different the landscapes are. The area around Ensenada is very definitely wine country.
Soon we arrived at the first of the two Wineries that we would visit that day. L.A. Cetto is quite a big operation. The original owner came to Mexico from Italy. There were so many wineries in Italy that he did not think he could make a new business work. So he came to Mexico and once he realized that the climate and soil are similar to that in the wine-growing areas of California, he settled near Ensenada. The winery is now run by the grandson of the original owner and the wine is exported to 27 different countries.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
When we arrived at the winery, we were introduced to our guide and she gave us a quick tour of the facilities. We got a crash course in wine making and then visited the area where the wine is stored and aged. She explained about the different barrels that are used to age different types of wine. The cost of some of the barrels is insane and the lifespan is fairly limited. Once the barrels have come to the end of their useful life, they get turned into planters or garden furniture and sold. I could have got drunk just breathing the air in this storage area and I was quite relieved when it was time to move on.
Once we finished our tour, we went to the tasting room. I briefly stopped on the way to take some photos of the gorgeous view. Then it was time to indulge in the serious business of wine tasting. Our first sample was their sparkling wine, which was dry and very nice. Next up was an Oaked Chardonnay and a Chenin Blanc. All of the wines were very nice. They also gave out two samples of red wine, but read wine does not agree with me so I passed. Instead I sampled the snacks that had been set up for us. There as fresh bread with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a gorgeous cheese. I wish I had asked what this was. It was quite mild and had a slightly waxy texture, but it was so good. Once I had tasted the local produce, I did some shopping. Our guide had explained that non-US citizens are allowed to bring one bottle of wine purchased in Mexico back into the USA. I decided on a bottle of White Zinfandel and a bottle of their dessert wine. During the tour, our guide had explained that this particular wine is certified as a communion wine. This is somewhat unusual as communion wines are normally red and this was white. The bottle actually had a message from the Bishop of Ensenada on the label certifying this as a communion wine. The two bottles of wine cost a princely sum of $9.
I had just paid for my wine when we were asked to get back on the bus. As we got back on the bus, we were each given a bottle of wine. I declined as I already had my limit that I could take into the USA. It was not hard to turn it down as it was red wine. Once everybody was on the bus, we drove a short distance. We made a quick stop for photos at an outdoor theatre that is owned by the Cetto family. This is normally only used for their own private celebrations, but once a year, they host a big Fiesta for the locals to celebrate the harvest. There was nothing going on there this day, but the views were spectacular.
Once we were back on the bus, we drove another short distance to the second winery, La Casa de Doña Lupe. Our guide explained that this would be a very different experience. They did not have any buildings as such apart from a small shop. The wine tasting would take place on the terrace. They had some tables set up with huge umbrellas to provide shade. The wines for tasting and assorted snacks were set up on some long tables near the shop. We had been told that the business started out selling organic jams, salsas and relishes and eventually branched out into organic red wines. The fact that they only produce red wines did not make me happy. I decided to pass on the wine and just enjoy the snacks. Apart from the wine, the thing that they are best known for is their Extra Virgin Olive Oil with Garlic and Spices. Bowls with this were liberally dotted around to dip in the bread. The bread was a white country bread with various fillings baked into it. My favourite was the bread with cream cheese and jalapeños. The combination of the oil and the bread was so simple, but absolutely delicious. One of the people pouring the samples noticed that I was not drinking and asked me if I did not like wine. I explained to him that red wine is giving me severe headaches. He nodded knowingly and then proceeded to explain that a lot of people react to the sulphites that are normally found in red wine and that they cause the headaches. He then explained that because all of their wine is organic, there are no sulphites in the wine. This sounded all very convincing and I decided to try the wine. I was given a card with 4 sections, each of which could be exchanged for a wine. The first three wines were a Merlot, a Tempranillo and a Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache blend. I really wished that I could have taken a bottle of the Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache blend back with me. This was the smoothest wine I had ever tasted. However, as I am a law abiding person and knew that I had reached the limit that I could take back into the USA, I had to pass. The fourth wine was something very unusual, a red dessert wine. At some point they brought out some fresh pizzas for our group. They had two different pizzas, one with ham and vegetables and one with Mexican sausage and vegetables. We got a slice of each and the slices were a pretty good size. The pizzas were both delicious. It felt like paradise sitting in the shade enjoying the gorgeous weather surrounded by beautiful countryside drinking wonderful wine and eating delicious food in great company. I ended up sitting with a couple from our cruise meet thread and we were exchanging memories from the cruise. They also had traditional singers and dancers performing, but I have to admit that I did not pay much attention to them. Unfortunately time tends to fly when you are having fun and soon we had to get back on the bus to return to Ensenada. When we were ready to leave Doña Lupe herself got on the bus to thank us for coming to visit and to invite us to come back. I really hope that I will get the chance to go back and that time bring Graham so that he can experience this for himself.
Once we finished our tour, we went to the tasting room. I briefly stopped on the way to take some photos of the gorgeous view. Then it was time to indulge in the serious business of wine tasting. Our first sample was their sparkling wine, which was dry and very nice. Next up was an Oaked Chardonnay and a Chenin Blanc. All of the wines were very nice. They also gave out two samples of red wine, but read wine does not agree with me so I passed. Instead I sampled the snacks that had been set up for us. There as fresh bread with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a gorgeous cheese. I wish I had asked what this was. It was quite mild and had a slightly waxy texture, but it was so good. Once I had tasted the local produce, I did some shopping. Our guide had explained that non-US citizens are allowed to bring one bottle of wine purchased in Mexico back into the USA. I decided on a bottle of White Zinfandel and a bottle of their dessert wine. During the tour, our guide had explained that this particular wine is certified as a communion wine. This is somewhat unusual as communion wines are normally red and this was white. The bottle actually had a message from the Bishop of Ensenada on the label certifying this as a communion wine. The two bottles of wine cost a princely sum of $9.
I had just paid for my wine when we were asked to get back on the bus. As we got back on the bus, we were each given a bottle of wine. I declined as I already had my limit that I could take into the USA. It was not hard to turn it down as it was red wine. Once everybody was on the bus, we drove a short distance. We made a quick stop for photos at an outdoor theatre that is owned by the Cetto family. This is normally only used for their own private celebrations, but once a year, they host a big Fiesta for the locals to celebrate the harvest. There was nothing going on there this day, but the views were spectacular.
Once we were back on the bus, we drove another short distance to the second winery, La Casa de Doña Lupe. Our guide explained that this would be a very different experience. They did not have any buildings as such apart from a small shop. The wine tasting would take place on the terrace. They had some tables set up with huge umbrellas to provide shade. The wines for tasting and assorted snacks were set up on some long tables near the shop. We had been told that the business started out selling organic jams, salsas and relishes and eventually branched out into organic red wines. The fact that they only produce red wines did not make me happy. I decided to pass on the wine and just enjoy the snacks. Apart from the wine, the thing that they are best known for is their Extra Virgin Olive Oil with Garlic and Spices. Bowls with this were liberally dotted around to dip in the bread. The bread was a white country bread with various fillings baked into it. My favourite was the bread with cream cheese and jalapeños. The combination of the oil and the bread was so simple, but absolutely delicious. One of the people pouring the samples noticed that I was not drinking and asked me if I did not like wine. I explained to him that red wine is giving me severe headaches. He nodded knowingly and then proceeded to explain that a lot of people react to the sulphites that are normally found in red wine and that they cause the headaches. He then explained that because all of their wine is organic, there are no sulphites in the wine. This sounded all very convincing and I decided to try the wine. I was given a card with 4 sections, each of which could be exchanged for a wine. The first three wines were a Merlot, a Tempranillo and a Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache blend. I really wished that I could have taken a bottle of the Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache blend back with me. This was the smoothest wine I had ever tasted. However, as I am a law abiding person and knew that I had reached the limit that I could take back into the USA, I had to pass. The fourth wine was something very unusual, a red dessert wine. At some point they brought out some fresh pizzas for our group. They had two different pizzas, one with ham and vegetables and one with Mexican sausage and vegetables. We got a slice of each and the slices were a pretty good size. The pizzas were both delicious. It felt like paradise sitting in the shade enjoying the gorgeous weather surrounded by beautiful countryside drinking wonderful wine and eating delicious food in great company. I ended up sitting with a couple from our cruise meet thread and we were exchanging memories from the cruise. They also had traditional singers and dancers performing, but I have to admit that I did not pay much attention to them. Unfortunately time tends to fly when you are having fun and soon we had to get back on the bus to return to Ensenada. When we were ready to leave Doña Lupe herself got on the bus to thank us for coming to visit and to invite us to come back. I really hope that I will get the chance to go back and that time bring Graham so that he can experience this for himself.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
On the way back to the port, we passed the new wine museum. This opened this summer and showcases the history of wine making in the Guadalupe Valley, wine making today and also provides tastings from a number of different wineries. If I ever get another chance to visit Ensenada, I would love to have a look at this. When we arrived back in Ensenada itself, we followed the coastal road, which was very pretty. We then drove through the town centre and our guide told us where various shops and services could be found. People who wanted to get off in the town and make their own way back to the ship were given the option to do so. I decided to stay on the bus and head back to the port. I wanted to check out the little market there. This turned out to be a good decision. I was in dire need of an additional piece of luggage and I managed to get a rolling duffle bag for $30. I dont think I would have got this cheaper anywhere else. I headed back on the ship. I still had my final Fish Extender run to do for the people doing all groups. For the ladies I had made key rings spelling out the word Wonder and for the children and the men I had made Stitch bottle cap key rings. Giving out the gifts took a lot longer than I had anticipated as I kept bumping into people I knew and ended up chatting with them.
When I eventually got back to our cabin, I could see that Graham had come back as his things were there, but there was no sign of him. So I headed out to find him. I found him on deck 10 with our table mates from our Panama Canal cruise watching the scenery. I joined them. Fortunately I had brought my camera so I could take some photos. There were even more sea lions near the ship than there had been in the morning. I had great fun watching them. Once we had heard the horn and were under way, we headed back to the cabin to get packed. This took longer than I had anticipated. I was definitely glad that I had bought the extra bag. When I was finished with the packing and had filled out all the luggage labels and the customs form, I put our luggage out so that our stateroom host could collect it and then I headed up to the Cove Café. I had enough stamps to get a free coffee. So I decided to have a frozen Cappuccino, which was very nice.
I caught up with Graham again at dinner. Dinner was at Triton's and the menu was Till We Meet Again. I realised pretty quickly that the menu had been revamped. The starter and main course that I usually had were no longer on there. However, the replacements were very tempting. Graham had Lobster and Crawfish Bisque with roasted Corn Relish, Rosemary and Garlic Lamb Sirloin with Onion, Leek, Potato Gratin and Sun-dried Tomato Jus and Deep Dish Apple and Cranberry Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream for dessert. I had Grilled Potato and Goats Cheese Napoleon with Balsamic-Basil Vinaigrette, Potato and Leek Soup garnished with Sour Cream and Chives and Roasted Fillet of Beef Wellington covered with Mushroom Stuffing wrapped in Puff Pastry with Fingerling Potatoes, Baby Vegetables and a Cabernet Black Truffle Jus. Our server had warned me that this would not be medium rare, but he would try to get me a piece that is as pink as possible. I was perfectly fine with this. When it came, it was slightly pink, but it was very tender and delicious. I had nearly finished my main course when he came back looking like the cat that got the cream carrying a dish. He somehow had managed to find me a medium rare piece of the Beef Wellington. I was pretty full by that stage, but as he had gone through a lot of trouble, I ate it. It was so good. Is still had a little room for some Baked Alaska for dessert. We also had the last bottle from our wine package with the meal. We had another bottle of the Moscato.
Normally Graham and I are in agreement when it comes to the shows in the dining rooms in that we do not like them. There is one show though where our opinions are divided. This is the show at the final dinner of the cruise. Graham probably dislikes this even more intensely like the others. I however love it and would not miss it for the world. However, we have cruised so often now that we know what is going on. There is a signal for the serving teams that sounds like Tinkerbell flying. The first time this happens, they know that it is time to finish what they are doing and the second time, they have to head for the galley. When Tinkerbell flew for the second time, Graham went on a strategic bathroom break. Initially the dining room is dimmed and the chefs come out with the flaming Baked Alaska. After this the serving teams come out with flags representing the nationalities on board the ship and the Caribbean version of It's A Small World is played. This always has the result that I have a big lump in my throat. Graham timed it perfectly and as soon as this was over, he returned. We had our dessert and then had to say goodbye to one of our table mates as he had an early flight the next morning and would not be at breakfast. We gave out our tip envelopes and then we called it a day.
When we walked through the atrium, a lot of the characters were still out. I spotted the character manager and asked him if Pluto was around. Unfortunately he was not. I then asked for Stitch and he was on deck 4. So I headed up there to say goodbye to Stitch. I told him to be good until I see him again and he did not think much of this. I still got a nice big goodbye hug. After I said goodbye to Stitch, we headed back to our cabin. Our stateroom host had left a towel heart on our bed. We got ready for bed and then I set our alarm call for the last time this cruise and went to sleep.
When I eventually got back to our cabin, I could see that Graham had come back as his things were there, but there was no sign of him. So I headed out to find him. I found him on deck 10 with our table mates from our Panama Canal cruise watching the scenery. I joined them. Fortunately I had brought my camera so I could take some photos. There were even more sea lions near the ship than there had been in the morning. I had great fun watching them. Once we had heard the horn and were under way, we headed back to the cabin to get packed. This took longer than I had anticipated. I was definitely glad that I had bought the extra bag. When I was finished with the packing and had filled out all the luggage labels and the customs form, I put our luggage out so that our stateroom host could collect it and then I headed up to the Cove Café. I had enough stamps to get a free coffee. So I decided to have a frozen Cappuccino, which was very nice.
I caught up with Graham again at dinner. Dinner was at Triton's and the menu was Till We Meet Again. I realised pretty quickly that the menu had been revamped. The starter and main course that I usually had were no longer on there. However, the replacements were very tempting. Graham had Lobster and Crawfish Bisque with roasted Corn Relish, Rosemary and Garlic Lamb Sirloin with Onion, Leek, Potato Gratin and Sun-dried Tomato Jus and Deep Dish Apple and Cranberry Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream for dessert. I had Grilled Potato and Goats Cheese Napoleon with Balsamic-Basil Vinaigrette, Potato and Leek Soup garnished with Sour Cream and Chives and Roasted Fillet of Beef Wellington covered with Mushroom Stuffing wrapped in Puff Pastry with Fingerling Potatoes, Baby Vegetables and a Cabernet Black Truffle Jus. Our server had warned me that this would not be medium rare, but he would try to get me a piece that is as pink as possible. I was perfectly fine with this. When it came, it was slightly pink, but it was very tender and delicious. I had nearly finished my main course when he came back looking like the cat that got the cream carrying a dish. He somehow had managed to find me a medium rare piece of the Beef Wellington. I was pretty full by that stage, but as he had gone through a lot of trouble, I ate it. It was so good. Is still had a little room for some Baked Alaska for dessert. We also had the last bottle from our wine package with the meal. We had another bottle of the Moscato.
Normally Graham and I are in agreement when it comes to the shows in the dining rooms in that we do not like them. There is one show though where our opinions are divided. This is the show at the final dinner of the cruise. Graham probably dislikes this even more intensely like the others. I however love it and would not miss it for the world. However, we have cruised so often now that we know what is going on. There is a signal for the serving teams that sounds like Tinkerbell flying. The first time this happens, they know that it is time to finish what they are doing and the second time, they have to head for the galley. When Tinkerbell flew for the second time, Graham went on a strategic bathroom break. Initially the dining room is dimmed and the chefs come out with the flaming Baked Alaska. After this the serving teams come out with flags representing the nationalities on board the ship and the Caribbean version of It's A Small World is played. This always has the result that I have a big lump in my throat. Graham timed it perfectly and as soon as this was over, he returned. We had our dessert and then had to say goodbye to one of our table mates as he had an early flight the next morning and would not be at breakfast. We gave out our tip envelopes and then we called it a day.
When we walked through the atrium, a lot of the characters were still out. I spotted the character manager and asked him if Pluto was around. Unfortunately he was not. I then asked for Stitch and he was on deck 4. So I headed up there to say goodbye to Stitch. I told him to be good until I see him again and he did not think much of this. I still got a nice big goodbye hug. After I said goodbye to Stitch, we headed back to our cabin. Our stateroom host had left a towel heart on our bed. We got ready for bed and then I set our alarm call for the last time this cruise and went to sleep.
dgbg100106
Missing the Tag Fiary
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2008
I had no idea about it being wine country, thanks for teaching me something new. We stopped there on our Hawaii cruise, for our foreign port, but we did not get off the ship, well really no one got off the ship. We stopped at 1:00 am and left at 2:00 am....
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
I recommend it. I really hope that I get the chance to do this again. I did not have a headache at all.
Yes, I was surprised it was so cheap especially considering what we got for it.
I had heard that some cruise lines just do a very short stop in the middle of the night. This is a real shame.
Corinna
dgbg100106
Missing the Tag Fiary
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2008
I have to agree, I feel like I missed out on a great day!
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Day 20
Mickey called us one last time at 7:00 AM. We got up and got ready and packed the things that we had still needed in the hand luggage. We then checked that we had everything and headed out. We managed to find our stateroom host and said goodbye to him. We then headed up to Shutters to pick up my photo CD. This was well organized by deck and we had a minimal wait to get the CDs. I checked that everything I expected was on there and then signed for it. This was handled so efficiently that we still had plenty of time until we had to go to breakfast. The ship was very busy with people waiting to get off especially as people who had early breakfast were already finished. They had changed the system for getting off again and rather than giving out stickers, disembarkation was now by luggage tags. The luggage tags that had already been called where displayed on all the screens around the ship.
Eventually it was time for us to go to breakfast. We were the first people from our table to arrive, but the others arrived shortly afterwards. Of course, just as soon as we had sat down our luggage tag was called. The other people on our table where in the same position. We decided to ignore this and enjoy our breakfast. Breakfast actually was a fairly slow process for the last day. It took our serving team a while to come and take our order and then it took ages for things to arrive. Still, we were in no hurry, so it was all good. We both had some juice and coffee and I had the Barbecue Chicken Omelette and Graham had fresh fruit and some bacon, sausage and scrambled egg. Once we finished our breakfast, we said goodbye to our serving team and our table mates and then headed to the atrium. The atrium was a zoo so we just stayed on the staircase in front of Tritons and waited for the crowds to go down a bit. Eventually people started to disperse and we headed towards the gangway. Captain Fabian was around to say goodbye to people, which was a nice touch. Our card was swiped one last time and our cruise had officially ended.
Sometimes it has advantages to be foreign. The line for passport control for US citizens was huge. The line for non-US citizens was much shorter and rather than standing in line on the walkways leading up to the building, we were able to enter the immigration hall straightaway. There were a couple of families ahead of us, but the line moved pretty quickly. Once we had cleared immigration, we went downstairs to retrieve our luggage. For once, it was all together and near the entrance. We headed through customs, which again went quickly and then we were directed to the buses. This is where the fun and games started. They had multiple buses going to the airport, but only one bus heading to Disneyland. This would under normal circumstances not have been a big problem as most people were actually heading to the airport. What they had not taken into account is that people had just come back from a 15 night cruise and had a lot more luggage than they would have on a 7 night cruise. This meant that there were plenty of seats on the bus, but not enough room for the luggage. They radioed for another bus and this arrived a short time after the first bus left. We were among the first people to get on this second bus. So we had a bit of a wait until everybody, and more importantly their luggage, was on the bus. In the end, as there were plenty of seats left, they just put some luggage at the back of the bus.
We were finally on our way. When we left the port, we hit the next snag. There were some roadworks and we had to take a detour. This worked out in my favour. We passed the port again from a different directions and I got to see the Wonder one last time and managed to take a couple of photos. From there it was plain sailing until we arrived at Disneyland. We dropped off people at Paradise Pier and Disneyland Hotel first before heading to the Grand Californian. There was absolute chaos in front of the hotel when we got there. Not only were there quite a few people that had come off our bus, but there were also a lot of people that had arrived for some conference. There were people and luggage everywhere. This was a bit of a shock as the Grand Californian is normally quite a serene place. The line for check in was also quite long. I parked Graham and the luggage out of the way and then I braved check in. The line actually moved pretty fast. Our room was not ready yet and they were a little thrown that I did not have a US mobile number to give them. They were going to send me a text when the room was ready. I was not worried as we were not going far and I could check periodically. With the formalities out of the way, I rejoined Graham and we found ourselves some comfortable seats.
Originally I had planned to head straight to one of the parks after check in. That morning I had decided that an afternoon by the pool was a more tempting proposition. When it came to it, I did not even have the energy for this. I was quite happy to just sit in a comfortable chair in the lobby, watch the world go by and listen to the piano player. I also had a bit of a nasty surprise. I decided to catch up with my emails and realised that in my absence, somebody had hacked my email account and had used it to send spam. Fortunately Gmail had realised very quickly what was going on and had suspended access to the account. To get access to the account again, they needed to send me a recovery code to my iPhone and with that, I could then reset my password. Of course, after a 15 night cruise, the phone was flat. So I quickly found my adapter and charger. Fortunately there was a socket not too far away. Once the phone had enough of a charge to switch on, I was able to retrieve the code and I was back in business. I reset the password and this one even Graham could not guess.
Once I had checked through my emails, I decided to check if our room was ready. Unfortunately there was no such luck. I decided to check out the gift shop. Something caught my eyes straightaway. I am a huge fan of the Disney Dooney and Bourke designs and where they keep their Dooney and Bourke bags were some bags with a design that I had never seen before. This turned out to be the new Disneyland Retro design, which was released two days earlier. I really like this. What got me even more excited is that they had an iPad case in this design. I had never been able to find an iPad case in a design I liked. I resisted it for the time being and headed back to join Graham. By then I was quite thirsty and checked with Graham if he wanted something to drink as well. I ended up going to Whitewater Snacks to get us some coffee.
When we finished our coffee, some of our fellow cruisers came past and told me that they just had been advised that their room is ready. So I decided to head back to the front desk to check if our room was ready as well. It was. I went and got Graham and our luggage and we headed up to our room. We were on the forth floor overlooking Paradise Pier. I quickly called the dining line to change our breakfast reservation for Steakhouse 55. I had this booked for the following morning, but now we would have lunch at Blue Bayou. Fortunately I was able to move the reservation to Thursday morning. With this sorted out, we settled down for a nap.
Fortunately I had set a Mickey wake up call as I am pretty sure we would not have woken up for dinner without it. We got up and got ready and decided to walk across to Downtown Disney. We had discovered a bit of a gem last year and decided to give this another go. Naples is operated by the same people that operate Tutto Italia and Via Napoli at Epcot and like those two, it specialises in Italian food. This time it was a lot busier than last year, but we still got seated immediately. Graham had some Italian beer and I had an Italian soda with French Vanilla. For our starter, we shared Panzerotti, which was fried pizza dough filled with fresh mozzarella, artisan ricotta and Parmesan cheese served with marinara sauce. I had expected that this would be dough balls, but it was more like Fried Ravioli and was very good. For my main course, I had Candele, which was baked candlestick pasta, sausage ragu, meatballs and bechamel. Graham had the Pizza Americana with green peppers, mushrooms, red onions, black olives, sausage and pepperoni. We both enjoyed our dinner and were too stuffed for dessert.
After dinner, we headed straight back to our room. I know that we had some Disney movie on the TV, but I was so tired that I can't even remember what it was. There was a bit of an irritating noise. It sounded like somebody had put something metallic in a tumble dryer. I figured that we must be next to a one bedroom villa and they were doing the laundry. I just ignored it as much as I could. I had every intention to watch my beloved World of Color, but gave up about 30 minutes before it started and went to sleep.
Mickey called us one last time at 7:00 AM. We got up and got ready and packed the things that we had still needed in the hand luggage. We then checked that we had everything and headed out. We managed to find our stateroom host and said goodbye to him. We then headed up to Shutters to pick up my photo CD. This was well organized by deck and we had a minimal wait to get the CDs. I checked that everything I expected was on there and then signed for it. This was handled so efficiently that we still had plenty of time until we had to go to breakfast. The ship was very busy with people waiting to get off especially as people who had early breakfast were already finished. They had changed the system for getting off again and rather than giving out stickers, disembarkation was now by luggage tags. The luggage tags that had already been called where displayed on all the screens around the ship.
Eventually it was time for us to go to breakfast. We were the first people from our table to arrive, but the others arrived shortly afterwards. Of course, just as soon as we had sat down our luggage tag was called. The other people on our table where in the same position. We decided to ignore this and enjoy our breakfast. Breakfast actually was a fairly slow process for the last day. It took our serving team a while to come and take our order and then it took ages for things to arrive. Still, we were in no hurry, so it was all good. We both had some juice and coffee and I had the Barbecue Chicken Omelette and Graham had fresh fruit and some bacon, sausage and scrambled egg. Once we finished our breakfast, we said goodbye to our serving team and our table mates and then headed to the atrium. The atrium was a zoo so we just stayed on the staircase in front of Tritons and waited for the crowds to go down a bit. Eventually people started to disperse and we headed towards the gangway. Captain Fabian was around to say goodbye to people, which was a nice touch. Our card was swiped one last time and our cruise had officially ended.
Sometimes it has advantages to be foreign. The line for passport control for US citizens was huge. The line for non-US citizens was much shorter and rather than standing in line on the walkways leading up to the building, we were able to enter the immigration hall straightaway. There were a couple of families ahead of us, but the line moved pretty quickly. Once we had cleared immigration, we went downstairs to retrieve our luggage. For once, it was all together and near the entrance. We headed through customs, which again went quickly and then we were directed to the buses. This is where the fun and games started. They had multiple buses going to the airport, but only one bus heading to Disneyland. This would under normal circumstances not have been a big problem as most people were actually heading to the airport. What they had not taken into account is that people had just come back from a 15 night cruise and had a lot more luggage than they would have on a 7 night cruise. This meant that there were plenty of seats on the bus, but not enough room for the luggage. They radioed for another bus and this arrived a short time after the first bus left. We were among the first people to get on this second bus. So we had a bit of a wait until everybody, and more importantly their luggage, was on the bus. In the end, as there were plenty of seats left, they just put some luggage at the back of the bus.
We were finally on our way. When we left the port, we hit the next snag. There were some roadworks and we had to take a detour. This worked out in my favour. We passed the port again from a different directions and I got to see the Wonder one last time and managed to take a couple of photos. From there it was plain sailing until we arrived at Disneyland. We dropped off people at Paradise Pier and Disneyland Hotel first before heading to the Grand Californian. There was absolute chaos in front of the hotel when we got there. Not only were there quite a few people that had come off our bus, but there were also a lot of people that had arrived for some conference. There were people and luggage everywhere. This was a bit of a shock as the Grand Californian is normally quite a serene place. The line for check in was also quite long. I parked Graham and the luggage out of the way and then I braved check in. The line actually moved pretty fast. Our room was not ready yet and they were a little thrown that I did not have a US mobile number to give them. They were going to send me a text when the room was ready. I was not worried as we were not going far and I could check periodically. With the formalities out of the way, I rejoined Graham and we found ourselves some comfortable seats.
Originally I had planned to head straight to one of the parks after check in. That morning I had decided that an afternoon by the pool was a more tempting proposition. When it came to it, I did not even have the energy for this. I was quite happy to just sit in a comfortable chair in the lobby, watch the world go by and listen to the piano player. I also had a bit of a nasty surprise. I decided to catch up with my emails and realised that in my absence, somebody had hacked my email account and had used it to send spam. Fortunately Gmail had realised very quickly what was going on and had suspended access to the account. To get access to the account again, they needed to send me a recovery code to my iPhone and with that, I could then reset my password. Of course, after a 15 night cruise, the phone was flat. So I quickly found my adapter and charger. Fortunately there was a socket not too far away. Once the phone had enough of a charge to switch on, I was able to retrieve the code and I was back in business. I reset the password and this one even Graham could not guess.
Once I had checked through my emails, I decided to check if our room was ready. Unfortunately there was no such luck. I decided to check out the gift shop. Something caught my eyes straightaway. I am a huge fan of the Disney Dooney and Bourke designs and where they keep their Dooney and Bourke bags were some bags with a design that I had never seen before. This turned out to be the new Disneyland Retro design, which was released two days earlier. I really like this. What got me even more excited is that they had an iPad case in this design. I had never been able to find an iPad case in a design I liked. I resisted it for the time being and headed back to join Graham. By then I was quite thirsty and checked with Graham if he wanted something to drink as well. I ended up going to Whitewater Snacks to get us some coffee.
When we finished our coffee, some of our fellow cruisers came past and told me that they just had been advised that their room is ready. So I decided to head back to the front desk to check if our room was ready as well. It was. I went and got Graham and our luggage and we headed up to our room. We were on the forth floor overlooking Paradise Pier. I quickly called the dining line to change our breakfast reservation for Steakhouse 55. I had this booked for the following morning, but now we would have lunch at Blue Bayou. Fortunately I was able to move the reservation to Thursday morning. With this sorted out, we settled down for a nap.
Fortunately I had set a Mickey wake up call as I am pretty sure we would not have woken up for dinner without it. We got up and got ready and decided to walk across to Downtown Disney. We had discovered a bit of a gem last year and decided to give this another go. Naples is operated by the same people that operate Tutto Italia and Via Napoli at Epcot and like those two, it specialises in Italian food. This time it was a lot busier than last year, but we still got seated immediately. Graham had some Italian beer and I had an Italian soda with French Vanilla. For our starter, we shared Panzerotti, which was fried pizza dough filled with fresh mozzarella, artisan ricotta and Parmesan cheese served with marinara sauce. I had expected that this would be dough balls, but it was more like Fried Ravioli and was very good. For my main course, I had Candele, which was baked candlestick pasta, sausage ragu, meatballs and bechamel. Graham had the Pizza Americana with green peppers, mushrooms, red onions, black olives, sausage and pepperoni. We both enjoyed our dinner and were too stuffed for dessert.
After dinner, we headed straight back to our room. I know that we had some Disney movie on the TV, but I was so tired that I can't even remember what it was. There was a bit of an irritating noise. It sounded like somebody had put something metallic in a tumble dryer. I figured that we must be next to a one bedroom villa and they were doing the laundry. I just ignored it as much as I could. I had every intention to watch my beloved World of Color, but gave up about 30 minutes before it started and went to sleep.
dgbg100106
Missing the Tag Fiary
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2008
We have never eaten there, but maybe I can this week... Since I have no park time...
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
What a shame. Both times we have been the service was great. The first time the restaurant was nearly empty so it was no surprise that service was pretty sharp, but it was great this time round, too.
No, I did not take any photos of this room. All will become clear in the next installment.
Oh, are you heading for Disneyland?
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
My new evening gown arrived on Wednesday. I tried it on on Thursday morning and it is gorgeous and fits like a glove. It is also perfect length-wise. I tried to take a photo, but it did not work out. I was naughty and ordered the same gown in royal blue. I also ordered a tiara to go with it. So I am all set for the Prince and Princess theme for formal night on the Magic.
Corinna
Corinna
Oooh, that sounds lovely!
dgbg100106
Missing the Tag Fiary
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2008
no I am in Orlando..
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Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
