ELEVATE! Is that a whale out there? A three-generation cruise to Alaska!UPDATE 8/29

[Clotho]

I hoped the trip report would be done before we left on our cruise, but we leave Monday. WAH! Thanks for sharing all you have. Hope to share some of our own stories soon.

 

[CandleontheWater]

I totally understand the "end-of-trip doldrums" and I end up taking less pictures also. I am really in awe of some of your guys and your picture taking prowess. I've been to Disney over 70 times and I don't think I have 1400 pictures total!

I really need to up my game if I'm going to hang out on the DIS with some of you ladies!

 

[Rayven]

I really love your TR. I'm even more excited about our upcoming cruise in Nov.

 

[amandaw]

I totally understand the "end-of-trip doldrums" and I end up taking less pictures also. I am really in awe of some of your guys and your picture taking prowess. I've been to Disney over 70 times and I don't think I have 1400 pictures total!

I really need to up my game if I'm going to hang out on the DIS with some of you ladies!

You should sign up with the rest of us for Shannon's workshop.

Now, we just have to convince her to really do the workshop....in WDW of course.

 

[RGirl]

32. A Little Fish and a Brave Princess (Day 6)

When I last left you, Judy 2 and I had been getting some exercise.

After that, we decided to go look for Judy 1. We eventually found her in the Promenade Lounge chatting with a friendly CM. The three of us chatted and decided that this was a good opportunity for DD to swim. However, it was quite cold and rainy, so we thought we should go up to Deck 9 and make sure that the pool was actually open. Of course, it was, so I went to get DD from the Kids’ Club, while The Judies headed back to their stateroom. DD and I met them there, DD changed into her swimsuit, and we all headed upstairs.

DD had a great time swimming while the grown-ups just hung out. I even read a little - oh, Hunger Games, you guilty pleasure, you. Willow was the only person in the pool, and she was living large!

Eventually, we really needed to grab some lunch in order to have enough time to warm up, shower, and change before our next leisurely plan for the day. Willow wanted to try the pizza, so we got her a couple of slices of pepperoni from Pinocchio’s (she thought it was great). I grabbed a little green salad from Goofy’s and checked to see if I could get a gluten-free bun for a burger at Pluto’s, but, again, no luck. I got some fries to ensure that I wasn’t being toooo healthy. I am not sure what The Judies did.

Willow and I took our food back to the stateroom so that she could warm up. Once we had eaten, Willow had showered, and we were all ready to go, we headed to the Buena Vista Theater to see Brave!

We really enjoyed this movie, and seriously, I would totally “waste” more cruise time to see movies on the ship. It was so relaxing and just fantastic to be able to go the movies - we don’t get to go often because we are always so busy and movies have just gotten so crazy-expensive! Anyway, all four of us teared up a little during this move.

Up next: 33. DD’s At-Sea Stage Debut (Day 6)​

 

[RGirl]

But the near end to one TR is the beginning of A new PTR, right????

Indeed! And I am totally torn on exactly what type of trip to plan, so it will be awesome to get everyone's advice and suggestions!

I wish all of you guys were going on my Hawaii cruise!!!! It would be so much fun!!!!

I started a PTR...though I need to update it. And I'll be doing a HUGE TR after its done. My mother and I are BOTH taking loads of pictures and writing about our days, so I'll be including a point of view from me *29* and my mom *62*! So you'll get all kinds of good info!!!

I'm trying to talk my mom into buying an ipad so we can take even more pictures and put them on the ipad...we'll see....

Can't wait for the TR!

Ok guys-I am uploading the pics for the next TR update. I have 92 pictures from 7 am-8:45 am. Seriously. Clearly I am the one who needs some sort of workshop (or intervention).

92 pictures from one breakfast. No scenery.

That is hilarious!!!!!

I love it!!! I was so disappointed in myself last year that I only took 1400 pictures during the course of 9 days.

You know, on our last trip to WDW, I actually did pretty well given that it was just me and a four year old (sometimes a bit hard to whip out the camera in those circumstances); I know I had thousands (I think even thousands just on the PP CD!). However, I am pretty sure that Shannon averages my total trip's worth in each day of her trip!

 

[RGirl]

That town looks so cute. But rain everyday? I could not handle that!

Your souvenirs sound so adorable. I would love one of those pillows. I love moose.

I'm sorry your cruise TR is almost over but I'm excited to read about your future plans!

Yeah, I could never live there - I don't deal that well with rain.

Can't wait to get caught up on your TR again!

Loving this TR - DH & I just booked this cruise for next year, so I'm getting a peek of what our trip will be like.

Thanks! I think you will love the cruise - we really enjoyed it so much.

I hoped the trip report would be done before we left on our cruise, but we leave Monday. WAH! Thanks for sharing all you have. Hope to share some of our own stories soon.

Sorry about that - I have fallen behind a bit with family issues here. I am going to wrap it up very soon - honestly, it is pretty darn close to done now!

I am so excited for your cruise on MONDAY!!!! I wish I was going to be on it. You will have a blast! If you eat at Palo and meet Selcuk, tell him hi from Roni and The Judies!

I totally understand the "end-of-trip doldrums" and I end up taking less pictures also. I am really in awe of some of your guys and your picture taking prowess. I've been to Disney over 70 times and I don't think I have 1400 pictures total!

I really need to up my game if I'm going to hang out on the DIS with some of you ladies!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who suffers from this last-day malady. I plan to beat it next year though! With help from Shannon's workshop, of course.

I really love your TR. I'm even more excited about our upcoming cruise in Nov.

Thank you so much! How fun that you have a cruise coming up!!

 

[RGirl]

A couple of bonus pictures that I didn't realize I had taken. First, for those of you who haven't cruised before, this is how you know where you are supposed to go to dinner every night - obviously, some VERY important information!

And these are the birthday presents that I got for Willow's BFF (the other BFF got the same thing except the pillow was a blue moose pillow and the necklace was a bear; Willow got a pink moose pillow and a whale necklace):

And just for the heck of it, some "real life" pictures from recently (since I just dumped the pics from my camera onto my computer and thought, "why not share? "). First, DD is working on a big fireworks painting for our living room:

Next, we spent most of this week in Spokane because of the family medical issue I mentioned earlier. Obviously, a five-year-old child cannot just sit at the hospital, so DD and I did get out and do a few fun things. Feeding the garbage goat:

Spokane has an amazing carrousel:

And we had a very nice dinner together:

One more spin on the carrousel:

​

 

[shan23877]

Love the real life pics! Cute, cute girl.

Great photos of Willow in the pool! She looks like she's having the time of her life. I'm so glad that you mentioned that you got fries. It would have made me feel terrible about the crap I eat on vacation if you were on a cruise eating salad.

I'm so glad that you guys got to see Brave! We went on July 4 and all really liked it. Maddie was asking about the movie this week though. She just doesn't understand why Merida chose not to have a prince. She's pretty sure that she'll choose a prince in Brave 2.

Still haven't started the Hunger Games. Must get to it soon.


I can't wait to hear about Willow making her stage debut!!! Sounds exciting!

******

I'd love to host a workshop if it meant we got to have DisMeet, but seriously you guys-I'm crazy. I will never, ever want half of the photos that I took. Even worse? I've spent $60 developing about a quarter of the ones that I do want!

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

32.

]​

​

First of all, the joy in that Mickey Pool pic just resonates! A life's good moment!
I love that pillow! One of my DD15s would totally "need" that pillow! Her lovey object which still travels with us on all trips is a white seal that looks just like the one on the pillow. Good souvenier find!​

​

 

[RGirl]

Love the real life pics! Cute, cute girl.

Great photos of Willow in the pool! She looks like she's having the time of her life. I'm so glad that you mentioned that you got fries. It would have made me feel terrible about the crap I eat on vacation if you were on a cruise eating salad.

I'm so glad that you guys got to see Brave! We went on July 4 and all really liked it. Maddie was asking about the movie this week though. She just doesn't understand why Merida chose not to have a prince. She's pretty sure that she'll choose a prince in Brave 2.

Still haven't started the Hunger Games. Must get to it soon.


I can't wait to hear about Willow making her stage debut!!! Sounds exciting!

******

I'd love to host a workshop if it meant we got to have DisMeet, but seriously you guys-I'm crazy. I will never, ever want half of the photos that I took. Even worse? I've spent $60 developing about a quarter of the ones that I do want!

I love how focused Maddie is on the princes. Willow seems to have a lot of real-life crushes (e.g., Doulson), but she is not too keen on the princes in the princess stories.

Well, I hope to do better on my next trip - I did pretty well in WDW in 2011, but that last day always gets me.

First of all, the joy in that Mickey Pool pic just resonates! A life's good moment!
I love that pillow! One of my DD15s would totally "need" that pillow! Her lovey object which still travels with us on all trips is a white seal that looks just like the one on the pillow. Good souvenier find!

Yeah, I loved those Mickey Pool pics - I don't know what she was doing exactly, but she sure was having a good time!

Aww - that's so cute about your DD. The pillows were really super-cute.

 

[RGirl]

33. DD’s At-Sea Stage Debut (Day 6)

When I last left you, we were all a little teary-eyed watching Brave.

After the movie, DD wanted to go back to the Kids’ Club. I had read in the Navigator earlier that the Kids’ Club kids would be putting on a show later, and rehearsal was scheduled to start soon. Well, no way was DD missing out on that!

The rest of us headed to our staterooms to take our time getting ready for dinner as there would not be time to do so after the Kids’ Club Friendship Rocks performance. While in the stateroom, I placed a call to the re-booking desk and left a message asking about the pricing that I had received - could this really be for both of us????

Soon it was time for The Judies and I to head to the Walt Disney Theater for DD’s grand debut at sea! This little performance was so cute. First, they brought out the “lab” kids (slightly older, although the smaller ones could go to the lab too). They did a dance, and then lined up towards the back of the stage. Second, they brought out the “club” kids - they were so cute, not quite big enough to navigate the tall steps onto the stage, but luckily, MICKEY was there to help them up. (I heard several times afterwards, “Mommy, did you see that MICKEY helped me up the stairs????”) The little kids then did a little song/dance number. And then there was more dancing and singing with Mickey and Minnie. Very cute.

Unfortunately, that darn Mouse stood right in front of my darling child for the entire performance. I may have caught her in a few pics, but not many.

The “lab” kids

The “club” kids - Willow is directly behind Mickey.

Hey! There’s Willow!

And there she is under Mickey’s armpit!

Cute!

This was really cute. And DD LOVED it! I really recommend taking the time to let your kiddos do this if they are interested.

Up next: 34. Some of Us Dine, and One of Us Has a Fight (Day 6)​

 

[CandleontheWater]

The photos of Willow in the pool were totally cracking me up. No way you'd catch me in a pool when it was cold and rainy, but there she is, with a huge smile, having the time of her life!

How awesome that the kids put on a little production. They all look so cute in their matching t-shirts! It must have been very heart-warming to watch.

Ok, so WHERE are you going on this next cruise? You've got me on pins and needles! I can't wait to find out!

 

[RGirl]

34. Some of Us Dine, and One of Us Has a Fight (Day 6)

After the Friendship Rocks show, we picked up DD at the Kids’ Club (they won’t release your kid to you at the theater since they can’t scan the child’s band and make sure you should actually be picking up that child ) and headed back to the stateroom so that she could change for dinner - it was a semi-formal night. For some reason, DD started throwing a little fit about changing, so I sent The Judies on to dinner (we were at Triton’s tonight for the Captain’s Gala menu). DD sat through a little time-out and then decided it was in her best interests to get changed for dinner.

She was feeling pretty silly by the time we got to Triton’s.

I obviously had a cocktail of some sort, but I’m not at all sure what this was - none of the ones on the on-line menu are ringing a bell.

I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that The Judies pulled their little martini trick again tonight. In fact, I think Doulson even remembered it from last time and asked if they wanted it.

DD ordered a prosciutto and melon appetizer from the adult menu. I am not sure whether she actually ate any of it - she loves prosciutto and melon, but I don’t think she was hungry at dinnertime tonight.

The Judies and I all had the Garlic and Herb Sauteed Shrimp - on spaghetti vegetables drizzled with garlic butter. YUM.

I also tried the Wild Forest Mushroom Soup - swirled with white truffle oil. Tasty!

For her entree, DD ordered the mac and cheese. She ate one bite and then declard that she was ready for the kids’ club.

I did convince her to take what turned out to be one of my absolute favorite pictures of the trip before departing. Willow and Doulson:

The Judies and I all ordered the lobster for dinner. Mmmmm

For dessert, I chose the Tropical Sundae - rainbow sherbet, coconut macaroon and rum-infused coconut cream.

The Judies both had the Warm Chocolate Lava Cake - baked chocolate delicacy served warm with double chocolate sauce.

We chatted a bit with Doulson. He showed us some pictures of his fiance. He was heading home in September and excited to be getting married in November. He said that he would have 3 months at home before getting back on the Wonder. I hope we get to sail with Doulson again someday.

Juni was very disappointing on this evening. She started hitting us up really hard about what we would put on our comment cards. She was saying things about how Disney will fire people and such. It was not the kind of things that you really want to hear from a CM while you are enjoying your vacation. It was very blatantly an attempt to get us to give her a positive review - it came out that she did not have a renewal contract yet, and I think she was getting worried that she wouldn’t get one. I kind of think she probably won’t - it seemed like the others already had theirs. Maybe because they were not speaking badly about their employer (not to mention the company we have all chosen for the cruise) to guests????

Anyway, after dinner, The Judies and I decided to head to the Cadillac Lounge for a glass of rosa regale. So nice! Sorry - I had a hard time getting good pictures in here.

When I went to pick DD up at the kids’ club, she was very upset. A CM was comforting her and also seemed kind of upset. Apparently, an older girl had told Willow that she could never come back to the club and some other unpleasant stuff. The CM seemed quite upset about it and said that the child’s parents had been called, that she had assured Willow that she could come anytime, etc. I was quite impressed - I’m used to preschool interactions, so I know this kind of stuff happens. But it was nice that the CMs were so kind about it.

Back in our staterooms, The Judies had a puppy.

And I think we had Stitch.

Up next: 35. Some Fancy Brunching (Day 7)​

 

[RGirl]

The photos of Willow in the pool were totally cracking me up. No way you'd catch me in a pool when it was cold and rainy, but there she is, with a huge smile, having the time of her life!

How awesome that the kids put on a little production. They all look so cute in their matching t-shirts! It must have been very heart-warming to watch.

Ok, so WHERE are you going on this next cruise? You've got me on pins and needles! I can't wait to find out!

The kids' club show was really sweet. I was impressed that they would go to all the effort to do it.

All will soon be revealed - there are only about 2 or 3 updates left

 

[shan23877]

How cool that the kids put on a show! I've never heard of them doing that before! Too bad Mickey was blocking your shots, but it sounds like Willow loved it.

Fantastic picture of Willow and Doulson! How sweet!

I'd be sort of irritated to be hit up for good comments from Juni too. Sounds hugely inappropriate. A guy I used to work with used to say to every table "I hope that you really enjoyed my service tonight..." at tip time. Always seemed slimey and annoying to me.

That's great to hear about the CMs at the Kids Club. I'm really sorry that it happened to Willow, but glad to hear that they took it really seriously.

Maybe you had a some sort of pomegranate bellini?

 

[amandaw]

How fun that y'all got to see Brave on the ship! Such a good movie, right?!? And I might have teared up a bit when I saw it, too. I hope they have some good movies showing next summer when we're on the Fantasy!

The show with the kids is too cute! But who does that mouse think he is standing in front of Willow the whole time?

That picture of Willow & Doulson is just precious! And I would have been very frustrated with the other server hounding y'all about the comment card. That right there would have made me leave a not so flattering review.

That is horrible about that mean girl in the kids club. I hope Willow was ok & that she went back. I'm glad they called the parents of the little bully.

 

[LittleGirlGrey]

Pooe Willow! Kids can be so mean sometimes!!!

YAY for the post! I hope you guys are doing well and I cannot WAIT to find out where you guys are going next!!!!

 

[megan511]

I love those pics of Willow enjoying the pool!

I'm glad you all enjoyed Brave. It made me a little teary too.

That pillow & necklace are adorable! I'm convinced to go to Alaska now

Willow's fireworks painting looks like it will be great! The pics on the carousel are super cute. I'm glad you & Willow could have some fun, it seems like you have a lot on your plate.

That performance looks adorable. Sorry Mickey was in front of Willow though!

That picture of Willow & Doulson is so sweet. I'm sorry about the other server though. Talk about uncomfortable!

I'm sorry Willow had an issue in the kids club. I'm happy that the CMs were concerned & on top of things though.

 

[RGirl]

How cool that the kids put on a show! I've never heard of them doing that before! Too bad Mickey was blocking your shots, but it sounds like Willow loved it.

Fantastic picture of Willow and Doulson! How sweet!

I'd be sort of irritated to be hit up for good comments from Juni too. Sounds hugely inappropriate. A guy I used to work with used to say to every table "I hope that you really enjoyed my service tonight..." at tip time. Always seemed slimey and annoying to me.

That's great to hear about the CMs at the Kids Club. I'm really sorry that it happened to Willow, but glad to hear that they took it really seriously.

Maybe you had a some sort of pomegranate bellini?

You know, now that you mention it, I don't think I have ever seen anything about the kids club show before either. Weird!!

Exactly! I waited tables for years - a little tact goes a long way!!!! And brains - I mean, everyone on that ship has paid a premium to cruise with Disney; talking smack about the company to these people is probably not the brightest move. Juno worked hard and we tipped her accordingly, but her attitude the last couple of nights really took away from the experience with her. Luckily, Doulson made up for any negatives!

The Club CM was so cute - I'm used to the nastiness that kids can bring at times after years of daycare and preschool. The CM was clearly not as accustomed to it as I am!

I really can't remember what that was, but a pomegranate Bellini sounds might tasty!