Planes, Trains & Antitussives, Alaksan Wonder Cruise - All done! Complete 11/21

[dhorner233]

He brought us the digestive aid, which I love!

What is the digestive aid?

That looks SO good!!

I was amused by them trying to pass off Goulash Soup and Chicken Schnitzel as regional dishes.

That's what I was thinking I was wondering what region that would be.

Sorry to see your cruise is coming to an end. But I know you are off to new adventures!

 

[afwdwfan]

Seriously... how awesome is that service from Hristo??? I really think that's just incredible that you've built that kind of relationship with him over the course of several cruises and you get such personal care from him. Obviously, it is quite nice of you to return the favor and tip him well.

 

[pkondz]

You know, I've never even actually heard that song. It just keeps getting mentioned places and parodied.

It's actually quite catchy.
One of the very, very... very few modern pop songs I like.

Ha! And we're trying to go swimming today.

Come on up here! I just checked the water and it's sitting at 48 right now.

I think so...

The day had improved a little bit and we saw a pretty town go by, but other than that it was all untouched natural scenery.

Looks like a nice day. I love all those little towns.

Then I went back to the tediousness of packing.

You need a robot to do that for you.
Just sayin'.

I removed all the price tags because let's face it, most guys don't think about that and it would be really tacky to have a gift basket full of items with prices, especially reflecting bargain prices!

I won't have time to read all the comments, but I wonder what kind of a response you'll get to that.
I always make sure the tags are off of gifts. I remember when my Mom taught me that when I was just a little kid. Never forgot it.

While I was packing I put on the TV to Disney movies and watched Peter Pan, The Incredibles, Snow White, and Alice in Wonderland.

That's a lot of packing!

Boy am I glad this TR doesn't have a contest!

Those things are a ton of work, aren't they?

All of a sudden I got all nostalgic realizing that this was the last time I would have dinner in this room!

I know that feeling. And it's never fun.

I got the Indian Lamb Duo which is one of my most favorite meals on the ship. I had this the last time we were offered that menu, it was a fantastic lamb dish with Indian inspired spices. It's about time that with the number of Indian crew members they have something that reflects their heritage.

Interesting that you'd notice that.

Hristo was happy to see us and took us right to our same table as usual.

Must be great to have that personal touch.

He gave us the dessert menu and we each selected two flavors of gelato.

Yesssss....

I also ordered a glass of dessert wine so that we would have a bill and i could give him an extra tip for inviting us up for dessert.

Nice of you.

About halfway through our gelato, he returned he see how we were doing. He stood behind me and leaned over my shoulder which seemed a little weird. When I told him it was good, he said, "Good? Is that all? How about I make it great?" And from behind me he pulled out an Amaretto soufflé!

No way! That's great!

I took off my evening clothes and put them in the final suitcase. I had Fran put it outside the room since I was no longer decent. They had taken one of our four suitcases already, and I settled in for a good night's sleep.

And Alison had to leave the ship in just her skivvies the next day.

 

[Pinkocto]

Last day already

Beautiful scenery. Really looking forward to this cruise next year.

That's the best way to pack, with Disney movies on in the background.

How cool Hristo made dessert so special. It all looks so yummy!

Very exciting about the EBPC next year!!!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I took enough pictures that the filenames had reset to 0001 and some pictures wanted to write over other pictures so it took a little bit of grouping and making new folders to get it together.

Don't you hate it when that happens?

Then I went back to the tediousness of packing.

Don't you hate it when that happens?

While I was packing I put on the TV to Disney movies and watched Peter Pan, The Incredibles, Snow White, and Alice in Wonderland.

Wow. That's an epically long packing session.

All of a sudden I got all nostalgic realizing that this was the last time I would have dinner in this room!

For entrées Dad got the Beef Wellington, and Fran was having entree envy as that is what she usually gets that one.

Mom got the mushroom strudel which was actually more spinach.

Dad wins.

About halfway through our gelato, he returned he see how we were doing. He stood behind me and leaned over my shoulder which seemed a little weird. When I told him it was good, he said, "Good? Is that all? How about I make it great?" And from behind me he pulled out an Amaretto soufflé!

Wow! Nice work, Hristo! He really knows how to speak your language.

I hope by the time that you all are reading this, we have completed the first part!

Ugh! Obviously we have not finished that first part.

 

[TestingH2O]

After we met with Jack, I realized that I had not taken any pictures of the shopping corridor on this trip and this was the last time that I would potentially see it like this. Who knows what they w

I love this report. I'll be on the July 3 cruise next summer, so seeing the American specials is fun.

It's funny though, I hadn't done any research into the classic ships until just a couple weeks before the Wonder went in for dry dock. Then I saw the photos of the shopping area and I was immediately disappointed I wouldn't be able to see it.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[franandaj]

I was sad for you reading this! It looked such a nice last day.

It was, even though we didn't do much. Palo was nice for brunch and I didn't mind hanging out in the cabin. I had nice entertainment and I could look out the widow to the balcony too.

Great you removed the price tags that is tacky I wish Jo would do this more. I ask her to. My hands can't do it.

Yeah they actually gave them away as we gave them to them so I'mglad we did remove the tags. It would have been rather tacky to send away baskets with tags.

Lovely photos you uploaded.

Dinner looks delightful. Wow that wellington I have envy too.

Thanks, yeah the Wellington was enviable over the schnitzel.

We find America very lacking in Indian food. It is very common here curry is now our national dish. Raita is the best!

That is amusing that curry is your national dish, I would have thought something like Fish and Chips, but whatever. I love Indian food, but perhaps not the more common dishes.

How amazing getting to go to Palo for dessert! And getting the souffle. I know you do leave the ship but I am wondering if it was with armed force now lol...

Here is to 2017 and your next Wonder cruise!

Yes the souffle was wonderful. .we will see about the 2017 cruise. If we do go, I may not want to get off the ship in Mexico.

Oh!! You are going on a long cruise!! (I am counting on you succeeding with the moving out!) I thought you said once that you would not want to be away for so long. But I am sure that you will absolutely adore being on the ship for two weeks! I really want to book another long cruise as well, but have no clue as to when we can make it happen...

Sorry to see that your cruise is nearly over the second time around. But you definitely ended it on a highlight!

Yes it was a stretch to convince Fran to book such a long cruise! She has insisted we drive down that day and fly back the night we disembark. However we are both concerned about sailing to Mexico in the current climate. We have six months to decide so we shall see.

As far as I am aware, it is just the grape and gorgonzola pizza that is gone. I think it was replaced by a goats cheese pizza.

That's good to know

I wish they would stop doing it. I love mushroom, but hate spinach. I know that on one of the special menus they always had a soup that was listed as potato soup and was actually lentil.

I was amused by them trying to pass off Goulash Soup and Chicken Schnitzel as regional dishes.

Yeah and the schnitzel was not even prepared as such.

What a lovely thing to do.

He is such a sweetie!

I am keeping my fingers crossed that you will finally get to go on a Panama Canal cruise.

We shall see. There are now many more factors.

 

[dgbg100106]

No you didn't, how do you know? I am intrigued!

I think it is safe to say you know my husband graduated from Texas A&M University!
Texas A&M has a college of Visualization, and a couple of the former students from there have worked at PIXAR since it started.
They have worked on Monsters Inc, UP, Brave, and many more.

Monsters University is a replica of the Academic Building at Texas A&M, and Sully is named after Lawrence Sullivan "Sully" Ross, Past President of the University, 19th Governor of Texas, Texas Ranger, and Brigadier General.

Now you know. Can't believe I was able to share some trivia with you!

 

[dgbg100106]

Day 9

I did wake up just before the sunrise, but I decided against taking any pictures. It was 3:30AM so I just had a bio break and went back to sleep. Around 6:30AM I woke up and turned on a Bug's Life while I wrote up my journal. Once that was over I got dressed and went to the laundry to start a load. Then I took some of the clothes I knew I wouldn't be wearing again and put them in a suitcase.

Today we would be arriving in Ketchikan around 11AM. There was another character breakfast going on in Animator’s Palate, so Triton’s was again not open for breakfast. I stood out on the verandah and took a few pictures. It would go back and forth between sunny and overcast.

The pictures are beautiful, love the scenery

I put the laundry in the dryer before we went to breakfast at Parrot Cay. I loaded up on protein for my first plate so that I could have some Mickey Waffles.
Fran just loaded up period.

breakfast looked to have lots of options and everyone needs Mickey Waffles!

After breakfast we went back to the room for a bit, I watched us as we sailed into Ketchikan and took photos as we arrived.

More beautiful photos.

A couple weeks before our cruise a Celebrity Ship crashed into the berth that used to be right here. It completely mangled the dock and did some minor damage to the ship itself.

Wow, glad no one was hurt, that can be scary.

Ahhhh, the Tongass Trading Company. Fran does some damage here later this day. Although actually not nearly as much as I did at the jewelry store that you can’t see at the far end of the street on the right of the trading company.

Sounds like you both had a good time shopping.

We were just arriving in Ketchikan and it would take a little while for the ship to dock and get tied up and prepared for passengers to disembark. I turned my phone back off airplane mode and checked online. Jenny @rentayenta was crying for an update on the WDW TR and since it was written, and I was caught up on replies, I decided why not? We had the large Internet package, so I did that and by then the ship was all tied up and Fran was ready to go. It was just after 11:15 our scheduled docking time.

We disembarked from Mid ship deck 3 and I was a tad bit dicey for Fran getting down the ramp with her scooter, but she managed.

Was it just the process itself, or the angle of the ramp?

She was all up for shopping, and while I didn't feel that Ketchikan was nearly as big of a tourist trap as the other two stops, it certainly had its commercialism. My knee still hurt, on the one hand, walking helped to stretch it out some, but it also made it hurt a little worse. We ended up buying an At-At T-shirt for me at the Tongass Trading Co. as well as some T-shirts for Jim and Alberto, plus some smoked salmon. Fran picked up a coupon book along the way and was reading about the "specials" they were offering.


All the way up the waterfront we passed jewelers who had "barkers" out there trying to lure customers into their stores. "Hey lady, we got a free gift for Wonder guests!"

"Come inside for your free freshwater pearl earrings!"

I don't remember all the ploys as I tried to avoid them.

Once we had walked the entire block we started to make our way back to the ship. Instead of walking down the waterfront, we decided to go a block into town instead. Upon leaving the ship, Fran had pointed out a specific sort of jewelry that she fancied as a belt buckle. We passed a jewelry store which had a poster picturing something similar, they were Alaskan owned and did not have annoying barkers.

We ended up dropping a pretty penny in there. I got a gold nugget necklace and matching earrings. She got a ring in the material that she liked.

sounds like this place was a great find for both of you.

Then we headed off down the street, I noticed a fish restaurant ahead. In every port I had seen Fish and chips shops, but we never had the time, or appetite to stop there. Today I was hungry and we had a little bit of time before I had to be back for my 1:45 excursion.

We split a two piece order of Halibut, which was just perfect.

perfect in size or in taste or in both?

By the time we finished it was time for me to go back to the ship. Fran wanted to keep shopping so she stayed behind and I went to check in at Wave Bands. I also took advantage of being on the ship to use their clean facilities, otherwise I would have tried again to work out a deal with the excursions director, who was on the dock making sure everyone got where they were supposed to go.

Next up flying through the Misty Fjords.

 

[irene_dsc]

That is amusing that curry is your national dish, I would have thought something like Fish and Chips, but whatever. I love Indian food, but perhaps not the more common dishes.

It seems like whenever I read British chick lit, people are constantly going out for curry.

 

[dgbg100106]

When we left off, Fran stayed behind in Ketchikan after our lunch to buy some T-shirts at the Harley store and who knows what else she had up her sleeve! I was on my way to a float plane excursion to the Misty Fjords.

Soon we were on our bus to the Air Terminal. All the folks from the Disney boat were assigned planes and left the waiting area. I was the only one left from the ship and thought I had been left behind. Evidently there was one more family who had lagged behind and they were on the plane with me and our captain had not yet picked up his assignment.

Finally we got underway. This dock was much more friendly than the previous day.

Whew I was getting worried for a moment, were you?

We were also on much smaller planes than yesterday.

that could be fun, smaller means more maneuverable

It was even harder to get into this plane than the plane the day before.

That is one downside

I got to ride shotgun.

oh that is an upside for sure.

We start to get airborne as we were passing our ship.

very kewl.

We flew past all kinds of spectacular scenery. Near to the water there were trees covering all the mountains.

beautiful.
beautiful, beautiful

[Continued from Previous Post]



Then we landed on this small body of water. We all got out on the side of the plane and the pilot was kind enough to take this picture of me. I tried a few selfies, but they didn’t come out so good.

LOVE this picture!

[Continued from Previous Post]

We were approaching the channel where we would make a right turn to head back to Ketchikan.

Love the clouds reflecting in the water.

As we walked back to the terminal, I noticed these little weird jellyfish things in the water. Well he just reached in a grabbed one to give me a closer look! It kind of creeped me out, but it was him touching it and not me!

Very interesting creatures.

Next up, Fran gets her second wind and dinner!

 

[dgbg100106]

Once I was on the bus back to the ship, Fran was texting me. About a week after we got back from the trip, the band had a fundraiser, Drag Queen Bingo. As band members, our job was to come up with prizes for the night, gift baskets that people could win. They wanted folks to go out and solicit businesses to donate prizes, but that’s not what Fran and I do. We don’t have “connections” with local businesses who would donate a prize and don’t know people we can ask for favors. Until now Fran and I were unable to offer anything. We don't work for Starbucks, Disney or any other large corporation that would normally donate a gift basket for something like this.

She came up with the idea of making a "Taste of Alaska" basket, with, you guessed it, all the items she could buy with her coupons she found in the free booklets. She met me on the dock when I got back and I tried to tag along, but clearly, with my bum knee and being tired from the adrenaline of the plane, I was just going to slow her down and she told me to go back to the room and take my shower and relax.

This is what she ended up buying for our Taste of Alaska Baskets. There were the Contents for two baskets

2 packages Wild Alaska Smoked Salmon
2 Ulu Alaskan Knives with Display Stand
4 Packs Hand Warmers
4 Alaska Chocolate Bars
2 Hat/T-shirt Combos, 1 XL one 1 L
2 shot glasses
2 King Salmon Jerky
2 Baby Seal Plush
2 Whale Tale Necklaces
2 bags of Wild Huckleberry candies
1 wild huckleberry jam
2 Hematite Necklace/bracelet/earring sets
2 Alaska Knit Caps (1 bear, 1 eagle)
2 Alaska hand crafted mining pans
2 Alaska Baseball Caps (1 dark with Eagle, 1 light with a seaplane)
1 XL Shirt

After my shower, I poured a glass of wine and went out on the Verandah. Soon I saw Fran on her way back from the Tongass Trading Company.
She has no idea I’m watching her.
Finally I called down to her.

Those gift baskets sounds really nice, I am sure everyone loved them!

We have these Lidocaine pain patches that are leftover from before Fran had her hip and knees replaced, we always bring some along just in case. I put one on my knee and it really helped. We napped and kicked back for a bit until it was time to go down and meet characters.

I am glad to hear that the patch really helped.

First we got Woody.

His line was so short, and we had almost half an hour to kill until the next characters came out, so we decided to go meet Jack Sparrow.
I had put on my new jewelry and since I’m too lazy to go dig it out of the closet and take a picture I just enlarged this one of me and zoomed in. I got a gold nugget pendant, and two dangly gold nuggets for my main earrings and then four gold nugget posts for the remaining earrings. Not sure if you can see them all.
Then we went back for Jesse.

After we met with Jack, I realized that I had not taken any pictures of the shopping corridor on this trip and this was the last time that I would potentially see it like this. Who knows what they will do to it in the dry dock!

And finally Mrs. Incredible.

All of the photos are great, you both look happy and relaxed.

Dinner tonight was in Animator’s Palate. They didn’t play the show while we were there. The menu was the Prince and Princess menu.

the food looks lovely!

[Continued from Previous Post]

I got an Enchanted Cocktail, Absolut Vanilla, Orange Passion Juice, fresh Lemon and Grapefruit Juice.
My mom and Fran started with the Mushroom Soup.
Dad and I got the bacon cheese tart, which to me was more like mushroom quiche.
Dad got the mushroom soup while i had the spinach soup.

Fran and Mom had the lobster salad.
We all got the Halibut. It was a bit bland but the sauce was good. There was just way too large a portion.
Except Mom got the Turkey.
Then we were handed the dessert menus.
For dessert Fran got the Mickey Bar.
I got the tiramisu, it wasn't a real tiramisu but it was OK.
Mom got the lemon cheesecake.
Dad got the chocolate cake.
Our drink server made us these flowers. I didn't see any of her other tables with them.

It really looks lovely, and yummy, but again, why can't people make desserts like they should be.

I went right back to the room, Fran stopped by shutters to see about purchasing a digital copy of one of the portraits of my parents, and if you could buy just one picture. You couldn’t.

So I just took this picture of the towel animal and went to bed. So not only will they be throwing us off the ship in two mornings, but now they’re taking away an hour of our sleep tonight!

Sad, Sad, sad

 

[dgbg100106]

Day 10

I woke up somewhere in the middle of the night 3 maybe 4 AM it's not clear to me since we had to set the clocks ahead. I could have watched the sunrise, but decided against it. Fran put on POTC Dead Man's Chest and while I wanted to sleep, I got sucked into watching it. Around 6AM I fell back asleep until 8 AM when it was time to get up for sure. I had to start packing since today was the last day on the ship. Plus, we had Palo Brunch at 10AM so I wanted to be ready for that as well.

I went up to the Cove Café for a cup of coffee. The free one would have to wait until the next cruise. It was sort of dreary out that morning, but I took some pictures off the verandah and spotted some sort of marine life that had a spout!

Very neat! It does look overcast, which kind of matches my mood on the last day of the cruise.

I had started packing up a suitcase the day before, so I finished that one up and weighed it. 45 pounds. That's pretty good, only three more to go!

I dont like this....

And finally we are all here for brunch.

great picture of the four of y'all.

The buffett looks amazing, if I ever go on a Disney cruise I will have to do this.

 

[dgbg100106]

We came back to the room and I loaded all my pictures onto the computer and then sort of organized them. I took enough pictures that the filenames had reset to 0001 and some pictures wanted to write over other pictures so it took a little bit of grouping and making new folders to get it together. The day had improved a little bit and we saw a pretty town go by, but other than that it was all untouched natural scenery.

It turned into a lovely day, these photos are beautiful.

Then I went back to the tediousness of packing. First I went through all Fran's purchases for the band baskets. I removed all the price tags because let's face it, most guys don't think about that and it would be really tacky to have a gift basket full of items with prices, especially reflecting bargain prices!

Then I proceeded to put all of our clothes except what we expected to wear in the next two days and packed all that up too. By the time I had us mostly packed it was 4PM so I sat down to fill out our suitcase tags and customs form, and then it was time to enjoy my gift of Prosecco!

The wine was your reward for packing!

While I was packing I put on the TV to Disney movies and watched Peter Pan, The Incredibles, Snow White, and Alice in Wonderland. Once I finished, I worked on the Naked Jim TR since I posted the most recent update the day before. I needed to have one more in the hopper for when everyone chimed in on the contest. Boy am I glad this TR doesn't have a contest!

That is a lot of movies...

Finally, it was time to go to dinner. We had the “Until we meet again” dinner.

I started off with the Ahi Tuna and my Dad got the same thing as well.
My mom and Fran both got the asparagus duo, white and green asparagus.
All of a sudden I got all nostalgic realizing that this was the last time I would have dinner in this room!
I skipped the soup, but mom and Fran also got the Lobster Bisque.
Dad got the Goulash.
For entrées Dad got the Beef Wellington, and Fran was having entree envy as that is what she usually gets that one.
Mom got the mushroom strudel which was actually more spinach.
I got the Indian Lamb Duo which is one of my most favorite meals on the ship. I had this the last time we were offered that menu, it was a fantastic lamb dish with Indian inspired spices. It's about time that with the number of Indian crew members they have something that reflects their heritage.
I asked for extra Raita and they gave me a huge bowl of it. Unfortunately, the battery on my camera died at this point and I had to rely on Mom to take the final picture of our entrees. Fran got the Chicken schnitzel which was OK but very disappointing that it was not pounded thin like a true schnitzel.

Yummy is all I can say, these looks amazing. Except of course that schnitzel, which should be pounded thin!

After dinner we escaped quickly after their international "show" as we had a date to catch. Fran had other ideas, she went to have one last check of the stores, while the rest of us headed up to Palo. As usual, the place was beautiful and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
Hristo was happy to see us and took us right to our same table as usual.

He gave us the dessert menu and we each selected two flavors of gelato.
I got the berry and white chocolate cappuccino.
Mom got the vanilla and berry flavor.
Dad got the Double Chocolate and Caramel Macadamia Nut.

I also ordered a glass of dessert wine so that we would have a bill and i could give him an extra tip for inviting us up for dessert. I wanted to ask him for a tiny spoon like they have at Brunch, but he had run off like a crazy man.

About halfway through our gelato, he returned he see how we were doing. He stood behind me and leaned over my shoulder which seemed a little weird. When I told him it was good, he said, "Good? Is that all? How about I make it great?" And from behind me he pulled out an Amaretto soufflé!

This is totally my new favorite dessert! I will save room for two of them at Palo in the future because they are just that good.

He brought us the digestive aid, which I love!

We finished our beverages, gave hugs goodbye and we're on our way. Our next sailing on the Wonder will be Fall of 2017 on the EB Panama Canal cruise. That is provided we get De Soto all cleaned out, renovated and rented. I hope by the time that you all are reading this, we have completed the first part!

Ugh! Obviously we have not finished that first part.

When we got back to the room, we found this towel animal. Or should I say blanket animal.

I took off my evening clothes and put them in the final suitcase. I had Fran put it outside the room since I was no longer decent. They had taken one of our four suitcases already, and I settled in for a good night's sleep.

Wow, how wonderful you got to have dessert in Palo, and that he brought you the souffle.

 

[Flossbolna]

Yes it was a stretch to convince Fran to book such a long cruise! She has insisted we drive down that day and fly back the night we disembark. However we are both concerned about sailing to Mexico in the current climate. We have six months to decide so we shall see.

I can understand. But I am sure that by June you will have a clearer picture of how things are shaping up!

And since you already committed to a long cruise, you could just do a TA instead. They are sometimes only 12 days, so that gives you a little wiggle room of a night in Europe! Who knows, you might even end up with some really nice DISers on board! (I am thinking transatlantic in 2018...)

 

[franandaj]

What is the digestive aid?

I can't remember what all is in it, but I know that Limoncello is one of the ingredients, its kind of slushy, citrusy and comforting.

That looks SO good!!

It was! Only about 100 days or so until I have another one!

That's what I was thinking I was wondering what region that would be.

That sort of mythical German/Bavarian place that is stuck in the 19th century?

Sorry to see your cruise is coming to an end. But I know you are off to new adventures!

And now I'm back. No real adventures for a while.

Seriously... how awesome is that service from Hristo??? I really think that's just incredible that you've built that kind of relationship with him over the course of several cruises and you get such personal care from him. Obviously, it is quite nice of you to return the favor and tip him well.

It really is great and so special to have someone like that who remembers us each time!

It's actually quite catchy.
One of the very, very... very few modern pop songs I like.

I'm not even sure I could identify a modern pop song if you played it for me.

Come on up here! I just checked the water and it's sitting at 48 right now.

No thanks, I prefer 82 where mine is set.

You need a robot to do that for you.
Just sayin'.

It would be nice!

I won't have time to read all the comments, but I wonder what kind of a response you'll get to that.
I always make sure the tags are off of gifts. I remember when my Mom taught me that when I was just a little kid. Never forgot it.

So far you are the only one who has commented. Well your Momma raised you right, cookin' and all, bein' courteous and stuff. And here you call yourself a buffoon!

That's a lot of packing!

Well you have to understand how the DCL movie channels work. There is a classic Disney Animation channel, a modern Disney Animation Channel, a Pixar Channel, and a Disney Live Action Channel. I believe I came in midway through Peter Pan, when that ended I didn't want to see the next one on the "Classic" channel, so I switched to Pixar where the Incredibles were already underway. I think I had seen the beginning earlier in the cruise so I caught the last half to the end. Then I went back to see Snow White, and I believe that Fran made me turn off the TV in the beginning to middle of Alice in Wonderland. It was probably a good three hours of packing though. We had a lot of fragile things that needed to be dispersed amongst the various suitcases.

Those things are a ton of work, aren't they?

Yes, and if you haven't noticed I still haven't finished tallying. I thought I was done and then I got another answer to the "BIG" questions, I'm stalling on tallying that to find out the winner.

I know that feeling. And it's never fun.

Especially since now that restaurant is rethemed as Tiana's place.

Interesting that you'd notice that.

It's very obvious. There are a lot of Indian customers on the ships. Often times they eat a strict Vegetarian or Vegan diet and the chefs prepare whole meals for their tables which are nothing like what is being served in the main dining room. I've sat next to their tables before and the smell of their exotic dishes is incredible!

Must be great to have that personal touch.

It really is!

No way! That's great!

See! I told you better than Gelato. At least for me it was!

And Alison had to leave the ship in just her skivvies the next day.

Ha They actually warn you against this in the "disembarking video". I had an outfit reserved for the next day. And BTW, I didn't even have my skivvies!

 

[Malia78]

Who knows, you might even end up with some really nice DISers on board! (I am thinking transatlantic in 2018...)

I think that is a most excellent possibility (more specifically thinking westbound transatlantic in 2018)

 

[franandaj]

Last day already

I can't believe it has taken me so long to get here!

Beautiful scenery. Really looking forward to this cruise next year.

I think you and your Mom will really enjoy it!

That's the best way to pack, with Disney movies on in the background.

I just wish I had those channels at home!

How cool Hristo made dessert so special. It all looks so yummy!

He sure did!

Very exciting about the EBPC next year!!!

I'm a tad bit on the fence about this one. We'll see how things pan out over the next six months....

Don't you hate it when that happens?

Don't you hate it when that happens?

Do I hear an echo??????

Wow. That's an epically long packing session

Well as I explained to pkondz above, I probably didn't see any one of those movies in their entirety. With the different channels and the constant loop of movies, I probably came in midway on Peter Pan, then jumped over to the Pixar Channel for incredibles, and then back to associate animation for the end of snow white and beginning of Alice. I know I didn't get to the "off with her head" scenes.

Dad wins.

I have to agree!

Wow! Nice work, Hristo! He really knows how to speak your language.

It didn't hurt that I told him earlier in the week that I needed to order two next time!

 

[franandaj]

I love this report. I'll be on the July 3 cruise next summer, so seeing the American specials is fun.

They will have a whole day to do it on your cruise! How fun!

It's funny though, I hadn't done any research into the classic ships until just a couple weeks before the Wonder went in for dry dock. Then I saw the photos of the shopping area and I was immediately disappointed I wouldn't be able to see it.

Thanks for sharing!

From what I've seen on the "Drydock Watch" thread some things have had major changes, but some common areas have remained somewhat true to before. I haven't seen the shopping area in photos yet.

I think it is safe to say you know my husband graduated from Texas A&M University!
Texas A&M has a college of Visualization, and a couple of the former students from there have worked at PIXAR since it started.
They have worked on Monsters Inc, UP, Brave, and many more.

Monsters University is a replica of the Academic Building at Texas A&M, and Sully is named after Lawrence Sullivan "Sully" Ross, Past President of the University, 19th Governor of Texas, Texas Ranger, and Brigadier General.

Now you know. Can't believe I was able to share some trivia with you!

Very interesting to know!

The pictures are beautiful, love the scenery

It really is!

breakfast looked to have lots of options and everyone needs Mickey Waffles!

I would love some, but I'm trying to get back down to where I was before the last trip. Only about 2-3 lbs to go.

More beautiful photos.

And as much as they are, it's sad to say that you almost get numb to the beautiful scenery. Same thing happened on my Southwestern trip.

Wow, glad no one was hurt, that can be scary.

The video of it (because of course there was video) was all over social media in all the cruise groups I am a part of.

Sounds like you both had a good time shopping.

We did. It was nice for her to have her "mojo" back.

Was it just the process itself, or the angle of the ramp?

There was a 90 degree angle in the ramp and there was a funny little ramp connecting the two ramps, sort of like a small wedge made out of wood, it was barely as wide as her scooter and it didn't give her a lot of turning room once she reached the second ramp after the elbow turn.

sounds like this place was a great find for both of you.

It was a cheesy Alaskan gift store, but it had better stuff than the other stores.

perfect in size or in taste or in both?

Portion size. It was OK taste wise. The fish was fresh, no complaints there, but we prefer beer battered to over breaded.

It seems like whenever I read British chick lit, people are constantly going out for curry.

I didn't even know "British chick lit" was a thing! We're more murder mystery type of people.

 

[franandaj]

Whew I was getting worried for a moment, were you?

No, not really. I knew she wasn't feeling well when she didn't go to Palo that first day. Once I got her the meds in Juneau she had perked up a little, so by the time we got to Ketchikan, she was raring to go!

that could be fun, smaller means more maneuverable

Didn't think of that one!

That is one downside

oh that is an upside for sure.

Everything does have it's ups and downs!

LOVE this picture!

This was one of the main reasons I duplicated this excursion. I loved landing on the water and getting out on the side of the plane. I just wished Fran could have done it with me, but she wouldn't have been able to get in and out safely on the water.

Love the clouds reflecting in the water.

I didn't even notice that. Thanks for pointing it out!

Those gift baskets sounds really nice, I am sure everyone loved them!

I hope so. They were given as prizes to total strangers so I have no idea what they thought.

I am glad to hear that the patch really helped.

Those things are little miracle workers!

All of the photos are great, you both look happy and relaxed.

We were definitely having a good time by this point!

It really looks lovely, and yummy, but again, why can't people make desserts like they should be.

Well I have put my Chicken Vesuvius on the menu in the next week or so and I also decided to make a Tiramisu, so that I can have a proper slice. I will post pictures here and on my other thread (where I had a substandard Tiramisu as well) once I make it.

Sad, Sad, sad

I know. Isn't it?

Very neat! It does look overcast, which kind of matches my mood on the last day of the cruise.

Yeah, I was not ready to be kicked off the ship just yet.

great picture of the four of y'all.

The buffett looks amazing, if I ever go on a Disney cruise I will have to do this.

You must do this buffet! It is one of the best meals I can ever remember having! Anywhere!

It turned into a lovely day, these photos are beautiful.

Thanks!

The wine was your reward for packing!

Totally!

That is a lot of movies...

As I mentioned on two previous comments. Most of them were partial movies. The Wonder doesn't have movies on demand like the Dream and Fantasy. When one movie would end, I would click around to see what was on next on another channel so a lot of times I came in during the middle of the movie. Or I left in the middle for something better.

Yummy is all I can say, these looks amazing. Except of course that schnitzel, which should be pounded thin!

You know, I might put the German restaurant into our dining rotation in the next couple weeks. I could use a good schnitzel and don't want to fuss with making it until life calms down a bit more.

Wow, how wonderful you got to have dessert in Palo, and that he brought you the souffle.

That was just the perfect ending to the cruise!