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Sanaa is a Table Service restaurant located at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge – Kidani Village.  This restaurant goes along with the theme of Animal Kingdom Lodge and takes you to South Africa where you can dine while watching animals walk by outside.  Recently my husband and I took an Adults Only Trip to Disney World where we dined at Sanaa for the first time. We had a reservation for 7:00pm but we arrived a little early, so we decided to head over to the bar area to have a drink while we waited on a table.  I ordered the mango margarita which I had heard really good things about – and it did not disappoint!  This ranks as one of the best alcoholic drinks I have ever had! Bar area Mango margarita – yum! We were only at the bar about 10 minutes before we received a text letting us know that our table was ready. Restaurant with big windows where you can see animals walk by The menu is African food with Indian flavors, you can view the menu here. We started out first with the Indian Bread service with all 9 accompaniments.  This gave us three types of Naan bread (traditional, garlic-ginger and spiced) and 9 different sauces.  Our favorite sauces were Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Mango Chutney and Tamarind Chutney.  All three of the Naan breads were outstanding and we had to stop ourselves from filling up on this! Indian Bread Service For our entrees, we both got the Potjie Inspired Dish, with choice of meat and sides.   For my meal, I ordered the Butter Chicken, Chickpea Wat and Basmati Rice Butter chicken was amazing! Eddie ordered the Spicy Durban Shrimp, Basmati Rice and the Lentil Dhal. Eddie said this was the best shrimp he’s ever had!  I’m not a huge shrimp fan, but I did taste it and oh my, it was delicious (however, it was also very spicy like it’s namesake).  The Butter Chicken I ate was so tender and flavorful, my fork would glide right through it. When in Disney…eat!  That’s what we did.  We decided we’d get dessert as well, so we tried the Caramel N’dizi, which was Banana Financier with Caramelized Milk Chocolate Crémeux, Hazelnut Crunch, Banana-White Chocolate Chantilly, and Ginger Raspberries.  Although it sounded delicious, we didn’t love it. We were so full after the bread service and delicious meal, we should have just stopped, so maybe we should try it again when we are not so full? All in all, this has been our absolute favorite Disney restaurant.  It is the perfect setting for a date night, and the food was amazing….not only was it the best chicken and shrimp we’ve ever had at Disney, it was some of the best we’ve tried anywhere!  Even if you aren’t staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, this restaurant is worth the trip.  It is definitely a hidden gem – reservations aren’t too hard to get here!   If you have picky eaters, there is a kids menu that offers items such as pizza, burgers & mac and cheese. Check out my other Disney restaurant reviews here! As an Independent Travel Agent with Mouse Counselors, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, I offer concierge travel planning for Walt Disney World® Resort, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland® Resort, Adventures by Disney®, Aulani and all other destinations at no cost to you.  Message me today if I can help book a magical vacation for you.

In case you missed it….. Day 1 – Boarding Day Day 2 – Day at Sea Day 3 Stops in Icy Strait Point in Hoonah Alaska!  This morning we woke up around 7:30am to get ready for our 8:45am Disney Character Breakfast.  This breakfast is only offered on 7-night or more Disney cruises.  There is no extra charge for this breakfast, but you must reserve tickets online ahead of time.  Tickets usually sell out pretty quickly, so first time cruisers don’t always get to secure tickets ahead of time.  Since I had booked late (past my 90 day check in), there were no tickets available.  I kept checking every few days and the last day to reserve any activities (3 days before sailing), I was able to get tickets!  It looked like they had added quite a few tickets that last day.  There are usually extra tickets available at Guest Services the first day of the cruise as well if you are unable to get them online. The breakfast was in Animator’s Palate which is perfect for a character meal.  Our server made us all some fun napkin headwear: Minnie bow for me! Goofy ears? Peter Pan maybe? The characters started coming pretty quickly.  First we had Pluto: Then Minnie: Eddie thought he’d ask for Minnie’s hand, lol: Goofy: Mickey was last: Selfie with Mickey! I didn’t take any pictures of the food!  First they bring around a platter of pastries to choose from.  I got the chocolate croissant which was good.  Then you can choose as many items off the menu as you’d like: Our breakfast started at 8:45 and we were completely done by 9:15am.  We went to get our jackets on and headed outside to view the scenery. There was hardly anyone up on Deck 9 that morning.  It was a little chilly outside, so we grabbed some hot chocolate at the drink station and then walked over to speak to one of the crew members who was looking out at the water.  He had a good eye and pointed out some wildlife, including a whale: See the water spray from the whale? We watched as the ship pulled into port: The natives were there to greet us when we disembarked (the population in Icy Strait Point is only about 750 people!): All ashore was at 12:00pm and our whale watching excursion with Hoonah Travel Adventures was scheduled from 12:15pm to 3:15pm.  I booked this excursion outside of Disney knowing that we had plenty of time to return to the ship (all aboard was not until 7:15pm).  It was less expensive booking outside of Disney, and I knew that sometimes the whale watching excursions booked through Disney are on larger boats that hold 50 or more people.  We wanted a more intimate experience and our excursion was perfect with about 20 people total.  My husband has written a separate blog post on our excursion that you can read here:  Hoonah Travel Adventures Whale Watching Excursion See the whale behind us? After our excursion we took a shuttle back to the main port and walked around a few minutes in the gift shop area.  We had to get back in time for our 4:00pm Martini Tasting, so we didn’t have a lot of time to look around.  Some pics we took on the walk back: Back on the ship, we headed to the martini tasting was in the Cadillac Lounge while Hunter went back to the room to watch some TV: We sampled 5 different martinis.  We were informed that we were “fake martini lovers” because we are not fans of the classic martini’s made with gin.  Instead we like the fake martini’s, aka fruity cocktails, lol.   Our first two were more of the “classic” martini with vodka and gin and the next two were fruity with vodka and our last was a dessert martini.  We loved the last 3, but didn’t like the first 2. Notice #3 is completely gone while #1 and #2 are still full, lol! After the tasting we went back to the room to get Hunter to go to the Know it All Trivia with Rod in the Crown & Fin Pub. Upon return to our room, we saw our stateroom host had left the Frozen snowflake light up necklaces (tonight was the Freezing the Night Away Party).  We stopped to get some pictures before dinner (I am wearing my necklace): Our dinner was in Tiana’s restaurant: Tiana and the Crawfish Crooners The menu tonight wasn’t the traditional Mardi Gras menu (we’d have that later in the week), but the Prince & Princess Dinner menu For the appetizer, we all got the Louisiana Hot Crab Dip: Verdict: Good Hunter got the Lime Marinated Jumbo Shrimp: Verdict: Good I got the New York Sirloin Steak: Verdict: Good Eddie got the Oven Roasted Turkey Breast: Verdict: Sweet Potatoes were great, everything else just okay For dessert, I got Prince Naveen’s Flourless Chocolate Cake: Verdict: Very good Eddie got the Banoffee Cream Pie: Verdict: Very good We finished up dinner and got our seats for the Frozen Musical in the Walt Disney Theater: I’ve seen the show before and really enjoyed it, but again this cruise, I was struggling to keep my eyes open.  The guys liked the show, but both agreed it wasn’t their favorite (men!). Heath Hyche was doing an adult show in Azure tonight that Hunter really wanted to go see.  I was really tired tonight so I decided to head to bed, but Eddie and Hunter went to see the show.  They both enjoyed it. Up next:  Day 4 – Skagway, Alaska.  Beautiful scenery….and a bear! Go to my Trip Reports page to read about all of our other adventures! As an Independent Travel Agent with Mouse Counselors, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, I offer concierge travel planning for Walt Disney World® Resort, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland® Resort, Adventures by Disney®, Aulani and other destinations at no cost to you.  Message me today if I can help book a magical vacation for you. #DisneyCruise #TripReport

Our Review of Whale Watching Excursion with Captain Paul & Hoonah Travel Adventures Blog Post by:  Eddie When Tammy and I started planning our first ever trip to Alaska, the discussion of scheduling a whale watching excursion was at the top of the list. Not all Disney Alaskan Cruises stop in Icy Straight Point (Hoonah, AK) so we knew this would be a great opportunity to schedule a whale excursion. We arrived in Hoonah, AK to the mystic scene of light fog rising through the trees, as if to point towards the zip line high above the mountain top (Icy Straight Point is home to the World’s Largest Ziprider; over a mile long and soaring at speeds exceeding 60 mph). Upon hearing the “all ashore” announcement around 12 noon, we departed the ship and took a quick walk towards the Adventure Center for our 12:15 appointment with Captain Paul and Hoonah Travel Adventures. Once inside the Adventure Center, which was very open and clean, our directions were to walk through the center and back out through door #2 (see picture below). See door #2 in the background. The monitors on the table is the “Smart Waiver” process for all the excursions There was a short walk along a granite dust path to the Excursion Hub (think bus loading area) for Hoonah Travel Adventures. Along the route there were signs leading wanderers to paths for exploring the island. Nature trail to the left The walking trail was short and the scenery was great, and there were a few signs directing us in the right direction. Just around the bend was an open area surrounded by large logs forming a circle, and in the middle were the friendly faces of the Hoonah Adventure staff members. There were also other groups of people waiting for their bear excursions to begin (Sorry, I couldn’t find the picture I took of the waiting area!) After a 5-10 minute wait, a clean, comfortable commuter bus pulled up. We all hopped onboard and traveled another short five minute ride (1.5 miles) to the Hoonah marina where Captain Paul and his two daughters were waiting to share with us the natural beauty of Icy Straight Point. Our boat is circled We couldn’t have asked for calmer waters, and the weather was perfect: overcast and cool. Captain Paul and his two daughters were wonderful hosts. The boat we were on was new, clean, and very spacious, offered a nice restroom, and free snacks were included (bottled water and granola bars).  Our group consisted of about 20 people, and there was a seat for everyone onboard. There were plenty of windows for viewing from inside the boat, and ample space at the bow and aft of the boat for outdoor viewing; in fact, the aft has an elevated platform for even better views. The selfie below was taken on the aft platform. As advertised, siting a whale was guaranteed, and it didn’t take long at all. A short 15 minute boat ride North of Hoonah to the Point Adolphus area put us right in the middle of several whales for viewing. We quickly learned that one of the easiest ways to spot a humpback whale was searching for what looks like a mist of spray on the surface of the water (see picture below). Once Captain Paul sited a whale, he would calmly position the boat to give us all a great vantage point to watch and photograph the whales. There were several other whale watching boats nearby, and all of them were careful not to crowd and impede the whale’s path of travel. There were plenty of whales nearby, so there was no rush or worry to get a good photograph. A humpback whale will breech the waters surface 5-6 times before making its famous dive that produces the iconic tail view. On the way back to Hoonah, we were treated with a spectacular scene of seeing the Disney Wonder moored to the Hoonah gangway. This was a fantastic excursion and one that my wife will be recommending to all her Alaskan cruise clients! As an Independent Travel Agent with Mouse Counselors, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, I offer concierge travel planning for Walt Disney World® Resort, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland® Resort, Adventures by Disney®, Aulani and all other destinations at no cost to you.  Message me today if I can help book a magical vacation for you.

If you missed Day 1 of my Trip Report, you can read it here. Today is all about Day 2 at sea!  This morning we woke up pretty early since our bodies were still adjusting to the time change.  We were up around 6:00am and decided to go to the gym to run first of three Incredibles Virtual 5k Runs!  We had signed up for the Disney Virtual Shorts Series, so we thought of no better place to get started this summer!  The gym on the Disney Wonder is really nice, with lots of treadmills facing the water for some spectacular views (especially when in Alaska!).  The treadmills all have tv’s, with the same channels that you get in your room.  There were lots of movies to choose from, including Pitch Perfect 3 (I caught the end of that) and Iron Man 2. Eddie also watched Iron Man 2 because we’re in sync like that. For tall runners (6’1 or taller), the treadmills pictured below do not provide a lot of head clearance, but there are a couple of treadmills a row back with plenty of head room. After our run we went back to get Hunter, hoping he was awake, to go grab some breakfast at Cabana’s.  (I didn’t take any pictures at all in Cabana’s this week!)   Eddie and I didn’t eat a big breakfast this morning, as we were wanting to save room for our delicious brunch at Palo! After breakfast we went back to the room to take a shower and get ready for the day.  I finished up before the guys and decided to go to the Mickey Mouse Animation Class in the Promenade Lounge.  I got there at the end of the Disney Trivia game they were playing so I grabbed a table and waited until 9:30.  Eddie surprised me and showed up to take the class with me (he’s sweet like that…sometimes).  We’ve done the drawing classes past cruises and had a lot of fun.  This time though, we were at a table further back and the instructor was using a very light pencil, so it was hard for us to see what she was doing on the screen.  We both gave up, our pictures were terrible, lol. Next, we wanted to go to the 10:00am naturalist presentation “Into Alaska’s Wilderness – Southeast Alaska” by Doug Jones.  Doug lives in Alaska and he’s given presentations on the Disney Alaskan cruises for several years.  He spoke about all of the different ports we would be visiting and what we should expect to see.  We thought it was a great presentation and loved his personal stories and pictures. After the presentation we went to the gift shop to check out what Alaskan souvenirs were available.  We are big pin collectors so that was the first thing on our list.  We got 2 cute pins, one with Mickey and one with Minnie: We also got the Alaskan Christmas ornament (this is something I get every trip we go on).  Our main Christmas tree is quickly becoming a “travel tree.”  I have a separate Disney tree in my dining room.  You’ll see some additional ornaments I got at the Alaska ports later in the trip report. We also got the 2018 Disney Alaska blanket: After we finished browsing around the gift shop, it was time to change for our Palo brunch so we headed back to the room to get ready.  We arrived at Palo at 12:00 noon and were seated quickly at a table by the window.   Our server took us up to the buffet to show us everything available: When we got back to the table our server took our drink orders (you get a complimentary champagne or mimosa with your brunch).  Eddie got a mimosa and I got Prosecco.  We were given the a la carte menu to decide what we wanted next: I always get the Parmesan Crusted Chicken at Palo….it’s so good I just can’t bring myself to get something else! Eddie got the Roasted Red Snapper Filet and really liked it (I forgot to take a pic!).  Our server also brought us a Calzone to try (no pic). After that, we went to the dessert buffet: Our server asked us if we wanted the Chocolate Lava Cake that they normally only serve at night in Palo and we said “Yes, please!” While we were in Palo, the Captain made an announcement that we were getting ready to go through an area with some beautiful scenery so we might want to position ourselves to get a good view.  Lucky for us, we were right by the window so not only did we enjoy a fabulous meal, we also were surrounded by beauty outside! As you can imagine, after all that food we were stuffed!!  It was about 1:30pm and we were going to walk outside for some pictures, but it started drizzling and was fairly cool.  We didn’t have our jackets on and were dressed in our nicer clothes, so we changed our minds.  We went back to the room to take a nap, hoping it would help us adjust to the time change and be able to stay up later to enjoy the adult activities.  We got back to the room and Hunter had planned to go see “Solo” in the movie theater at 1:45pm, but he was still waiting on room service to arrive (he had ordered around 1:10pm).  I asked why he waited to call it in so late knowing he wanted to go see the movie….?  He said he didn’t think it would take long, lol. We woke up from our nap around 3:30pm and got ready to go sit in on the DVC Presentation in the D Lounge.  I looked into the Disney Vacation Club a few years ago, but we’ve never been to a presentation so we decided to go check it out.  Just for attending the presentation they gave us this limited edition Copper Creek pin: At the presentation they didn’t have time for individual questions, so you had to make an appointment if you wanted to learn more.  We didn’t make an appointment at this point, but did later on in the cruise.  Hunter stayed in the room and watched a movie while we were at the presentation. The presentation concluded at 5:00pm, so we went back to the room to get ready for Formal Night!  We got ready pretty quick and went to get our picture with Mickey in his tux before dinner.  The Captain’s Welcome Reception was also going on, where we enjoyed the free adult beverage service while we waited in line for pics: Picture with Mickey: Eddie always likes to do some crazy things in his pictures….here he’s pretending to tell Mickey to wait, he needs to take a phone call, lol. Our dinner tonight was in Animator’s Palate.  I must not have taken any pictures of our meal tonight, probably because we ate the same thing we always eat at Animator’s!  lol  So the pics below are old pics from another cruise. For the appetizer, I always get the Black Truffle Pasta Pursettes.  Me and the girls love these, but the guys don’t like them?!  They are nuts! For my meal:  Pennete Bolognese & toasted garlic ciabatta I didn’t get pics of what Hunter and Eddie got, but Hunter got the Sirloin Steak and Eddie got the Ginger-Teryaki dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin.   They both enjoyed their meal. They also came by our dinner table for more pics: Sorcerer Mickey came by to visit: After dinner we went out for more pics in our formal wear and we may have grabbed another adult beverage from the late reception going on, lol.  Our pics: The show tonight was the Golden Mickeys, which we love, but have seen several times now.   The guys didn’t like being dressed up either, so we went to the room to change and went to the theater to see Beauty & the Beast (the movie). Buena Vista Theater We’ve all seen it before and it’s a great movie.  I found myself struggling to stay awake…being in the dark theater and the time change was still wreaking havoc on me, lol.  I managed to stay awake until the end though and then we headed to Azure for “Snippets” (playing a clip from different tv shows and you would try to guess what they were) and then for the adult show:  Matt Baker (Juggling & Comedy Act).  Matt put on a great show and we were glad we stayed up for it!  The show ended at 11:00pm so we went back to our room to turn in for the night and get ready for our first port day! Up next:  Day 3 in Icy Strait Point (Hoonah, Alaska). Go to my Trip Reports page to read about all of our other adventures! As an Independent Travel Agent with Mouse Counselors, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, I offer concierge travel planning for Walt Disney World® Resort, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland® Resort, Adventures by Disney®, Aulani and other destinations at no cost to you.  Message me today if I can help book a magical vacation for you. #DisneyCruise #TripReport

For our Disney World Adults Only Trip – Day 2, we slept in until around 8:00am.  I’ll be honest – this may be the latest I’ve ever slept when in Disney World!  I almost didn’t know what to do with myself not getting up at the crack of dawn and catching a bus to a park!   It was sunny outside and we were excited (forecast had been horrible with a tropical disturbance).  We got our bathing suits on and cover ups and went down to The Mara to get some breakfast before heading to the pool. We were surprised that the pool had as many people as it did, but I guess everyone doesn’t utilize early morning park hours like me!  We found us some seats and spent the next few hours here relaxing and enjoying the views: Around 12:30pm, it started raining.  We debated waiting it out or just going on to get lunch.  We opted to go get lunch and see what the weather was like after we ate.  We split a turkey sandwich (no pic) and then I also got a Jambo Juice Slushie and some Zebra Domes!  Oh my, these are so good and just another reason Animal Kingdom Lodge is the BEST! After lunch we decided to go back up to the room to relax because it was still raining.  Eddie turned on the tv and I took a nap (I love vacation naps!).  We laid around until around 3:00pm when I got up and took a shower and got ready to go to Epcot for the evening. We arrived at Epcot around 4:00pm and stopped out front from some pics: Next we headed over to the Disney Visa Meet & Greet spot.  If you have a Disney Visa card, there is a special character meet and greet in Epcot (Future World).  You never know what character you’ll see, but usually it is two characters, and it will certainly be the shortest character line you will have in the parks!  Ours today was Mickey & Goofy!  My favorite and Eddie’s! We made our way over to the World Showcase since we had a dinner reservation at Via Napoli at 5:30pm.  We enjoyed looking at the topiaries from the Flower & Garden Festival on the way: We also stopped for some more photopass pics: Our favorite: We stopped in Norway to ride the Frozen ride.  I had gotten a fastpass for this ride since Eddie had never rode this one.  We had planned to do the single rider line on Test Track, but when we walked over there, the ride was down.  The other Fastpass option was Soarin’ and although I enjoy the ride, Eddie doesn’t really care for it.  Frozen is a cute ride, very well themed, but definitely not worth waiting in a long line for, and normally not wasting a Fastpass on (over Soarin’ or Test Track) unless you have a little one who loves Anna & Elsa.  Our ride photo (Eddie being crazy like usual): We stopped in France and did a wine tasting: More World Showcase Photos on our way to Italy: We arrived for our Via Napoli reservation right on time and were taken back after a few minutes. Pizza Ovens One of us got Chicken Parmesan and the other got the Margarita pizza and we split them.  The food was pretty good, but it’s not a restaurant we would do every trip. Afterwards we walked more around the World Showcase on the walk over to Beaches & Cream for our dessert reservation!  It’s a cute throwback soda shop that serves a few hamburgers / sandwiches and tons of ice cream.  They have a “Kitchen Sink” ice cream that is huge and serves like 10 people.  It’s a very small place so very hard to get a reservation here: I got the “No Way Jose” Sundae and Eddie got the banana split.  They were both delicious! Banana Split No Way Jose Chocolate and Peanut Butter Goodness! After our dessert, we made the long walk back to the front of Epcot to catch our bus back to Animal Kingdom Lodge – we needed the long walk after all we’d ate! Up next – Disney World Adults Only Trip Report – Day 3

Welcome back!  If you missed my introduction post (Travel Day), you can go back and read that here. Eddie was the first to wake up (which is the norm).  He showered and walked around to take some pics (he’s my designated photographer – I bought us a Nikon DSLR that he’s been having fun with).  Here’s a few of the pics he took of our hotel: He strolled back up around 5:30am, so I got up and threw on some clothes so that we could go grab some bikes and head over to Stanley Park.  Our mission was to catch the Disney Wonder coming back to port.  We went down right at 6:00am and the guy at the desk this time was extremely helpful, but it did take a few minutes to sign the bikes out, get them unlocked, give us helmets, etc.  I had pulled up the cruise tracker app on my phone and knew we were cutting it close to seeing the Wonder come in. The Westin is very close to Stanley Park, so once we got the bikes, we took off quickly.  We speed-biked over to the sea wall and made it just in time!  I was huffing & puffing by the time we got there, lol!  We didn’t get to see it coming in under Lions Gate Bridge which is what I was really hoping for, but this was close enough: Stanley Park is absolutely beautiful and we felt like we had the whole place to ourselves! We rode up a little further and then decided to head back.  We stopped by the totem poles for pictures on the way out: We got back to the hotel and decided the hotel restaurant was our best option for breakfast.  They had a buffet but a $34 per person price tag was more than we wanted to pay, especially knowing we’d be getting all we could eat for the next 7 nights.  Eddie got the oatmeal and Hunter and I both got the basic breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes and toast.  It was really good but pricey. We then went upstairs and showered, packed up and waited until 10:15am to catch a cab over to the port.  We could have walked, but our luggage was pretty big (weighing close to 45 pounds each) and we didn’t want to roll it over.  The cab was only $8 CAD so definitely worth it.  We were dropped off where porters accepted our luggage to be delivered to our stateroom later, and we headed towards the check-in area.  We were some of the first to arrive and I asked if there were any upgrades available, but apparently the ship was sold out, so we would be keeping our Deluxe Inside Room for this cruise.  Next we went the seating area to wait for our boarding group to be called!  We were in Boarding Group 5 and I believe it was around 11:45am when we boarded. We stopped for our first cruise picture (I pre-purchased the photo package for a discount so wanted to make sure we took advantage of all the photo opportunities): Then first thing we did was head to Guest Services so I could load my Disney Gift cards onto my onboard account (read my blog – Ways to Save Money on a Disney Cruise).  I also checked to see if I could get any Mixology tickets (it was sold out online), but unfortunately there were no spaces available.  Bummer!  Next we headed to the Promenade Lounge to see if we could change our dining assignment from Second dining (8:15pm) to Main Dining (5:45pm).  I booked our cruise in April – which is late for a cruise, and Main Dining was not available at that time, so I asked to be put on the wait list for Main Dining.  I’ve always been able to get my clients switched to Main Dining before the cruise, so I was worried when our dining had not been switched. We were already on a 3 hour time change, so 8:15pm would be like 11:15pm for us – yikes!  We were some of the first guests there at the lounge and I was seated with a head server right away, who changed us over to Main Dining without a problem!  We kept our same rotation and he recorded my name and cabin number, and told me to go to Triton’s that night and tell them we had been switched.  While there, I also wanted to see if we could get a Palo brunch reservation – they were sold out on sea days when I did online check-in.  I was able to get a reservation our first sea day at 12:00 noon which was perfect!  They have several lunch items on their brunch a la carte menu (see blog post on Palo) so I like eating my Palo brunch around lunchtime.  I was excited that I was able to get 2 of the 3 things I wanted and the ones I got were definitely priority over the Mixology class.  I’ve done Mixology before and it was a lot of fun, but we were also signed up for the Martini and Champagne tastings, so we weren’t really missing out. We then headed up to Cabana’s to eat lunch.  I was very surprised that it wasn’t terribly crazy in there.  I usually avoid Cabana’s on embarkation day for that reason, but we found a table and got through the line without a problem. After we ate lunch, we went outside to get some pictures and walked around for the boys to acquaint themselves with the ship.  I was just on the Disney Wonder a few months ago for a girls birthday trip on a 3-Night Bahamian cruise so I knew my way around.  Some of the pics we took: The sails on Canada Place (Cruise Terminal) Vancouver Skyline Eddie’s favorite picture – float plane in the harbor Vancouver Convention Center West After exploring the ship, we headed to take a look at our room on Deck 2.  We were in a Deluxe Inside Room which still had the split bathrooms (Standard Inside Rooms do not have split bathrooms) so we were happy about that.  Here are some pics of our room: Deluxe Inside Stateroom on the Disney Wonder. Approx 214 square feet At 3:00pm we headed over to Senses Spa for the raffle they do the first day of every cruise.  This has become a tradition with my husband and I.  On almost every Disney cruise we make a visit to the spa, so if we can win some spa credit then we are happy!  Unfortunately we didn’t win anything on this cruise, but we did make an appointment at the desk for a massage on Skagway Port day.  We knew we’d be back on the ship by 5:00pm, so we made our appointment for 6:30pm.  We were skipping the Frozen menu in the Main Dining room that night as it just didn’t appeal to us. After the spa raffle it was time to head to our Muster location which was in the Walt Disney Theater.  I’ve been in here before for a muster drill and again felt like this was a little bit of a cluster.  They have 2 groups in there and 2 crew members speaking in a megaphone at the same time, so it’s hard to concentrate on who you need to be listening to; however, I was thankful to be indoors and not packed like sardines on Deck 4. After the muster it was time for the Sail Away party.  I know some people love this but it’s not a must do for me.  We went back to our room to unpack and put our magnets on the door. We then went to Deck 4 to get some pics of the jogging / walking track: Eddie demonstrating what to do, lol! Then we headed up to Deck 10 to get some pictures of beautiful Vancouver as we left port: Lions Gate Bridge Next it was almost time for dinner, but first we hopped in line for my favorite guy – Captain Mickey! Our dinner was in Triton’s, and we told them we had been moved to Main Dining and were assigned our Table number.  We were excited to see that our private table request was honored!  I was definitely willing to give that up for the earlier dining, but Disney is great about trying to accommodate requests.  Things were definitely looking up after our rocky start on our travel day, lol.   Our dinner that night: Jumbo Shrimp appetizer (Eddie & Hunter) Verdict: Good Fried Perogies appetizer (Tammy) Verdict: Great Roasted Filet Steak (Eddie & Tammy) Verdict: Very Good Conchiglie Pasta (Lobster) (For the table) Verdict: Okay, wouldn’t order again Roasted Rack of Lamb (Hunter) Verdict: Very Good – one of his favorites Strawberry Shortcake Sundae (Eddie) Verdict: Great Grand Mainier Souffle (Tammy) Verdict: Very Good After dinner we met with Sailor Goofy: Then we headed to get a seat for the opening night show:  Heath Hyche.  Heath is a comedian and it was a pretty good show. After the show we went out on Deck 4 and snapped this pic.  It was around 9:40pm: Then we hopped in line to meet with Chip & Dale: Next we headed to the adult only after hours activity in Azure.  I was disappointed that Jo was no longer the club host on the Wonder, but Rod was a good replacement.  We enjoyed his humor and attended most of the adult games and activities on the cruise. After this we were ready to call it a night!  The clock said 11:00pm, but our bodies said 2:00am AND we were losing an hour of sleep tonight!  Coming up next – our first Day at Sea! Go to my Trip Reports page to read about all of our other adventures! As an Independent Travel Agent with Mouse Counselors, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, I offer concierge travel planning for Walt Disney World® Resort, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland® Resort, Adventures by Disney®, Aulani and other destinations at no cost to you.  Message me today if I can help book a magical vacation for you. #DisneyCruise #TripReport

Thanks for coming to read our Disney World Adult Only Trip Report!  If you’ve read any of my other blogs, you know that my husband and I love to go on trips – with and without the kiddos.  I recently had signed up for Travel Agent Resort Tours at Disney, so we decided to make a weekend of it and put our annual passes to good use! Here we are excited to be headed to one of our favorite places! Our first night was spent at All Star Movies.  Our flight got in late (around 9pm) so we wanted to save a little money and stay at a value resort since we would just be sleeping at the resort the first night.  Although let me clarify – we have no problem staying and have stayed our entire trip at value resorts before!  This trip we planned to spend some time enjoying the resort though, not just sleeping there, so we splurged for Animal Kingdom Lodge for the rest of our trip. We arrived at MCO and headed for the Magical Express area and were greeted by this sign: Check-in was quick as always (make sure you take your magic bands) and it wasn’t but a few minutes until we were boarding a bus.  Surprisingly, this late at night – our bus was FULL!  We also, of course, were the last stop, lol. We checked in and then headed to our room for the night.  Since this was our first time at All Star Movies, we stopped to get pics….. We got to our room, and I was reminded why Pop Century is my favorite value resort – Queen Beds!  Double beds are the standard at all of the values except for Pop and in the Art of Animation Family Suites (Little Mermaid rooms have double beds).  We have a king bed at home, and this double feels soooo small to us!   We each took one bed for the night, lol.  I guess we like plenty of space. The next morning we were up early.  My resort tours started at 12:00pm, but we wanted to hit a park first thing.  So bright and early we were up, packed up our luggage and took it to bell services for the transfer over to Animal Kingdom Lodge. On the way to the food court to get breakfast we stopped for more pics: After breakfast we hopped in line for a bus to Hollywood Studios! We were some of the first to arrive and were close to the front for opening. They start letting people in, but then still have the main streets blocked off.  Once we were through, we headed straight for Toy Story Mania.  I had booked fastpasses for Rock ‘n Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror.  We got on Toy Story Mania pretty quickly (even with one of their lanes shut down for construction of Toy Story Land).  We always have fun on this ride.  I was winning at first, but hubby ended up beating me. 🙁  We did have the same score in accuracy though. He beat me – this time! We left Toy Story Mania and still had about 20 minutes before our Rock ‘n Rollercoaster fastpass.  So we stopped for some pics in front of Tower of Terror. Then stopped at the next photographer as well…. We got in line right at our FP time and were through there pretty quick as well!  LOVE this ride!!! Our fastpass for Tower of Terror was still over an hour away (since you can not make more than one fastpass in an hour).  I looked on the My Disney Experience app and saw that the wait was only 20 minutes, so we decided to go get in line.  IF we were in line 20 minutes, it went fast.  I honestly don’t know which of these rides I love best! So there you have it….by 10:00am we had hit our 3 favorite rides in Hollywood Studios (if not all the parks).  I always recommend to my clients getting at each park every day at park opening.  Yes, it is early wake ups – but it is so worth it!!  We still had some time to kill, so we went to Starbucks to grab a drink and try the Carrot Cake Cookie we’ve heard so much about.  But first, we stopped by our first photographer and asked him if he did the Mickey magic shot – and he did!  He also surprised me with a Minnie shot as well! So we were off to get our cookie….this thing is HUGE…and SWEET!!!  Lots of cream cheese icing in the middle.  We basically just wanted a taste since we were going to be eating an early lunch before my resort tours.  The carrot cake part was delicious, and the icing too….just maybe not so much icing.  Check out how big this cookie is! Yum! We took a few bites and then threw it in the trash before we were picked up by the bus to Disney Springs.  Normally I love the transportation at Disney and in my many visits over the years have very little to complain about.  But we waited 45 minutes for this bus!  Thankfully we had some time to spare.  The buses actually weren’t going straight to Disney Springs until 4pm that afternoon, but I knew that Saratoga Springs had a walking path to Disney Springs, so that’s the bus we were waiting on.  It FINALLY came and we were off.  Saratoga is a huge resort, so we did have to ask the bus driver which stop we needed to get off at to take the walking path to Disney Springs.  I believe it was the 3rd stop, but I honestly can’t remember for sure.  Thankfully it wasn’t raining – yet.  This week in Florida had been terrible weather due to a tropical system that had dumped tons of rain.  The temperature was quite nice, so we didn’t mind the clouds.  We got to Disney Springs and headed straight for our favorite quick service in all of Disney – Blaze Pizza!!  We just love this place.  I realize it is a chain and they have several restaurants, but we don’t have one close to us at home, so we always eat here at least once a trip – sometimes more!  Our pizzas: I love this man! I was texting with a couple others from my agency who were also at Disney, one who was also going on the resort tours, so we were deciding where to meet up.  The other agent who wasn’t joining the resort tours had just done the Star Wars Virtual Reality experience at Disney Springs and told us how amazing it was.  I was glad to hear that because I had signed hubby up to give him something to do while I was on the resort tours and it wasn’t quite time to check in at Animal Kingdom Lodge yet. So he headed off to do that: I was off to my resort tours: Hubby absolutely loved the Star Wars Virtual Experience!  He can’t wait to take the boys next time we go. I toured the following resorts:  Port Orleans French Quarter, Pop Century, Art of Animation and Yacht Club.  I was hoping for some resorts that I haven’t already stayed at (I’ve stayed at all of these), but I did get to visit the Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation and a Finding Nemo Family Suite.   I was in a Cars Suite when I stayed there.  You can see my pics from that stay here.  I will be doing some new blog posts on all the resorts that I visited, so keep checking my blog under Disney Resorts! The tours were supposed to last until 5:00pm, but we finished up early around 4:00pm.  I took the bus from Yacht Club to Animal Kingdom, then got on a bus there to Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Eddie had texted me and told me he had just checked in, so I couldn’t wait to check out our room.  Although I have several resorts that I love, Animal Kingdom Lodge is my favorite so far.  One thing I don’t love is how dark it is in the lobby areas…..a little depressing (lots of dark wood).  But everything else makes up for that.  The rooms are gorgeous, the pools are great and they have great restaurants.  We planned to spend a lot of time at the resort relaxing by the pool – although the weather forecast was making those plans challenging. Here’s just a couple pics from Animal Kingdom Lodge, I’ll s ave most of the pics for my Animal Kingdom Lodge post.  My favorite part – our savanna view from our balcony! After we got settled into the room, we got changed for dinner.  We had reservations at Sanaa.  We absolutely loved Sanaa, I will be writing a separate post on our experience there.  Perfect place for date night!  Sanaa is in the Kidani Village part of Animal Kingdom Lodge, and there are internal buses that will take you there, but it was a nice nice and a short walk, so we just walked there and back (less than 10 minutes).  Read our review of Sanaa here. After dinner we came back to the room and watched some TV before shutting out the lights.  This vacation was starting off right!  Day 1 was a success! Click here to read my other Trip Reports! As an Independent Travel Agent with Mouse Counselors, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, I offer concierge travel planning for Walt Disney World® Resort, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland® Resort, Adventures by Disney®, Aulani and all other destinations at no cost to you.  Message me today if I can help book a magical vacation for you.

Welcome to the start of my Disney Cruise Alaska Trip Report!  Today is all about our travel day to Vancouver.  A little background….we are a blended family with 4 kids.  As you will see, we only took one kid on this vacation.  Reason being we are starting a tradition of a high school trip of their choice (my son’s choice was a 7 night Disney cruise – Alaska was just icing on the cake).  This gives us some bonding time with that child, not to mention it gives us the opportunity to do things we wouldn’t be able to afford with all four kids in tow (Alaska excursions can get pricey).  In full disclosure, I did get a travel agent discount on this cruise. We had an early morning today, our flight was leaving at 7:23am.  We woke up around 4:30, showered and went downstairs for breakfast.  We were only a mile away from the airport parking area, and a shuttle was pulling up right after we got our luggage out of the car.  We ended up making the shuttle and were inside the airport by 5:30am.  The line to check bags with Delta was ridiculously long!  I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’ve traveled quite a bit.  It took us over an hour to get through that line!  We saw several people who were told they would miss their flight.  Delta didn’t charge us to check our bags so that saved us $75 – I assume since there was a problem with the bag belt which caused the delay is why we were not charged.  We then headed for security and while in line they had a dog sniffing everyone in the line.  Well, the dog stopped by me so they held me back.  Then the dog sniffed at Eddie too (he had walked on up further after I was held back).  After a minute the security guard told us to go ahead, but then when we got up to the security lines, we heard the guy say “this is the three.”  So they were talking about the three of us apparently – and we had to go through a separate security line.  We didn’t have to remove our shoes or anything, but they opened up and searched all of our bags.  I’m not sure what the dog smelled unless it was the snacks we had purchased the night before for our long plane ride!  After they had went through all of our bags, we rushed to our gate and made it in time for the last boarding call – whew!  Here we are, happy to be on the plane! We had a layover in LAX (Los Angeles) of about 2 hours, so we grabbed lunch while at the airport.  The guys went to go get lunch and I was saving some seats (LAX airport was horrendous).  I had heard on the speaker that anyone who did not have their boarding pass issued by WestJet, should come up to get a new boarding pass (ours had been issued by Delta – the flight was operated by Delta, but was a WestJet flight).  So when the guys got back, I took our passports up to the desk.  The attendant told me that we were not on this flight, had I made any changes?  I told her “no, I haven’t changed anything.”  So she called Delta to see what was going on.  For some reason (a reason they couldn’t explain), Delta had removed us from the flight.  THANKFULLY, we were able to get back on, but we lost our seats on aisle 10 and were now on the very last row of the plane – although seated together.  I told Eddie that I really hoped that things started going smoother, because this was beginning to get stressful! We made it to Vancouver around 2:30pm.  Going through customs was extremely quick and efficient there, we were very impressed with the airport, and it was really pretty.  We waited for our luggage, then went to the cash exchange to get some CAD ($200 USD got us $237 CAD). Then we went to grab a taxi to our hotel in downtown Vancouver – Westin Bayshore.  The cab ride was about 20 to 25 minutes and cost $43 CAD. Once we arrived at the Westin Bayshore it was around 4:00 or 4:30pm.  I went to the desk to check in and was told that we could wait for an “upgrade” which she told me was a corner harbor view room that was larger than  a standard room, or we could take an obstructed harbor view room now.  We decided to go with the upgrade since we were only planning to drop our bags off in the room anyway and head to Gastown for dinner.  We left our bags with bell services and went outside.  We talked to the guy in charge of bike rentals there (Westin guests received 2 hours of bike rental free), and he gave us a map and told us it was a 15-20 minute walk to Gastown.  It was a nice day and we wanted to walk by Canada Place where we’d be boarding the next day, so we decided to walk.  Here’s some of our sights on the walk over: The virtual flight similar to Soarin’ at Disney World / Disneyland We ate at Steamworks, a pub/brewery in Gastown that I had read good reviews about. Steamworks Brewing Co We were not disappointed, we all enjoyed our meals.  We got a crab/artichoke dip for an appetizer (this was our least favorite, kind of bland and lukewarm, not served hot): I got a Steamworks burger and Eddie got wings and we split: Hunter got the fish & chips: They also had a store there where you could buy wine or beer if you wanted to take some on the cruise with you. After we finished up dinner we started the walk back to our hotel.  By this time it was around 6:30pm (9:30pm to our bodies) and we were started to get tired after our early wake-up.  We stopped by the Olympic Cauldron and the Orca for pics on the way back: Our plan was to grab some bikes and head to Stanley Park after we checked in.  It was about 7:30pm at this point and the bike rental representative was no longer there, but I had asked the front desk earlier and they said that the desk outside would be able to assist.  So we went in to collect our luggage from bell services and take it to our room (I had received a text on the walk back that our room was ready).  We walked up to our room and this is our room: I didn’t think it was a very large room, although the bathroom was nice and big and we did have a nice view.  The regular rooms must not be very big.  At this point I asked Eddie where my makeup bag was – I had kept it out of my luggage to use it that morning at our airport hotel, but then gave it back to him to pack up.  Well, he forgot to switch it to our checked bags because we were kind of in a rush to get to the airport….so here I am getting ready to leave for a 7-night cruise with no makeup, no toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, etc.  We looked up the closest drug store and figured we could stop by there on our way back from Stanley Park.  Um, nope.  First off, we couldn’t get the desk outside to help (the guy was quite rude actually) – so no bike rentals.  I was pretty disappointed because I really wanted to spend some time in Stanley Park.  So, start stacking everything up that had happened that day on top of me being pretty tired at this point, and I was very irritable.  Eddie decided to stay at the hotel and Hunter and I walked to the nearest drug store, where I ended up spending $100 to replace the things in my makeup bag (and Hunter’s toiletry bag too – it was also left behind).  We walked back to the hotel about 9:30pm.  It was still light outside and I was determined to stay up until 10:00pm to try to get acclimated to the time change.  We watched some tv until around 10:00 and then called it a night. Up next – Disney Cruise to Alaska Boarding Day!  Early morning in Vancouver and boarding the Disney Wonder!  Read all about it here! #Alaska #DisneyCruise #TripReport

Have you heard of the #4Parks1Day Challenge?  It was on my bucket list of Disney things to do and I finally got to experience it for my birthday girls’ only trip! First off, if you haven’t been to Disney MANY times – don’t try this.  We have both been many times and knew what highlights we wanted to hit and knew how to quickly get around to everywhere we wanted to go. Before our trip, we went a little crazy making shirts.  I think we made 4 or 5 shirts total?  We didn’t even wear them all!  Oh well – there’s always the next trip!   But these were the shirts we made for our #4Parks1Day.  I just love the way they turned out, and we got tons of comments on them! #4Parks1Day Shirts! The back of the shirt For our birthdays, my friend and I decided to go on a 3-Night Disney Cruise!  We love everything Disney but even if you don’t – the cruises are amazing.  I will also be doing a trip report on the Adults Only Disney Cruise, so subscribe to my blog so you can be notified when it’s ready! We thought since we were going to be in Florida and so close to one of our favorite places, that we would fit in a day at the park as well.  Since we love all four parks, we decided to cram them all in one day and just hit some of the highlights! I was able to secure us fastpasses to Flight of Passage – which, if you know anything about Disney World – you know this is the hardest fastpass to get.  So I was super surprised to find it available at less than 30 days out.  Disney sometimes adds extra fastpasses on when park hours change. So our plan was:  First park – Animal Kingdom (Extra Magic Morning Hours), Hollywood Studios, Epcot and then end our day at Magic Kingdom.  I am a serious planner (I am a travel agent, so I guess that’s a given!) and I had planned out what we wanted to do and what time I thought we would be through with everything.  I’m very happy to say that my plan worked almost down to the minute!  Was it brilliance or just luck?  I choose the first, haha! My husband and I are passholders, and Animal Kingdom was having an early shopping event for passholders on the day we visited for their 20th Anniversary, which meant we got into Animal Kingdom even earlier than everyone else!  The passholder line opened at 7am.  We had to drop our bags with bell services that morning (and pack up) as we also did a split stay.  Our first night was at All Star Music, and our second night at Saratoga Springs Resort.  So not only were we going for a #4Parks1Day Challenge, we also had to have everything packed and out of our room before we got on the bus!  Yikes!  We kept telling ourselves that this exhausting day would be followed by a relaxing, wonderful cruise, so we could do it! After dropping our bags off, we hopped in line to get on the bus (I had packed granola bars and we bought a Coke the night before for our breakfast).  Our bus came pretty quickly and we were off to Animal Kingdom!  The passholders had a separate line entrance, so we walked in to a fairly empty park!  We headed straight for Island Mercantile where they were having the passholder sale and O.M.G. what a madhouse!  I went specifically for the special edition 20th Anniversary Pin that I had seen pictured on some other blogs (my husband and I are crazy over collecting Disney pins – he is worse than me though, lol).  It was so crowded in there we couldn’t get to everything we wanted.  I was also interested in the 20th anniversary Animal Kingdom Magic Band, but for one, I couldn’t get to them, and secondly they were $32.99.  That was a little more than I wanted to pay because I already own about 20 different magic bands!  The pins were up at the registers, so we hopped in the shortest line we saw and asked for the pin when we got to the register.  Well, they only had one available for purchase, and it was the passholder edition, which I actually wasn’t crazy about, but I bought it anyway. I wanted the top 2, but all they had was the Passholder pin on the bottom right After leaving the store, we got our pics made in front of the Tree of Life. Park #1 – Animal Kingdom Love the frame! Cute magic shot Then we headed to Kilimanjaro Safaris.  We were the some of the first in line so walked right on.  It was a beautiful (even a little chilly) morning.  We opted to put our sweaters on when we got on the ride.  The animals seemed to be out and about.  I just love this ride.  It’s a must do for me every time I visit Disney. This was the first time I’d seen giraffes in the wooded area After we left the safari ride, we headed over to Expedition Everest.  Our plan was to hop in the single rider line, but there was only a 5 minute wait so we got in the regular line.  We walked right onto that ride as well.  Early mornings are the BEST!!! Our EE Ride Photo By this time we headed over for our first (and only) fastpass I had scheduled – Flight of Passage!   Our fastpass time was for 8:55am – 9:55am and we were in line right at 8:55am.  We waited maybe 5 minutes, and were in!  After getting off the ride (seriously AMAZING ride), we took some pictures of Pandora before heading out to catch our bus to Hollywood Studios.  It is so pretty, they did a wonderful job. While we were on the bus to Hollywood Studios, I was able to score us a fastpass for one of our favorite rides – Rock ‘n Rollercoaster!!! We were on the bus around 10am and our fastpass was for 11:05am.  Also on the bus, a cast member was on there who noticed our birthday buttons (almost every cast member noticed our buttons and said happy birthday to us).  She got the whole bus to sing Happy Birthday to us.  Fun (although a little awkard?)  When we got to Hollywood Studios, we headed over to grab us a cupcake and found a table to enjoy it and wait for our fastpass time.  After finishing the cupcake (we split one), we walked over to see if we could catch a glimpse of the new Toy Story Land scheduled to open on June 30th.  This is what we saw: This is why I love Disney.  Even the construction zone looks adorable! It was time to head over to get in line for our fastpass, but first we stopped for our 2nd Park Picture in front of Tower of Terror, and also a couple in front of the entrance to the Rock ‘n Rollercoaster ride.  Our photopass photographer in front of Tower of Terror was great and had us do a couple of poses, and brought up the idea of holding up 2 fingers for our “2nd Park”  We wish we had thought of that while at Animal Kingdom, but we knew we would continue that for our last two parks. Park #2! Pointing at our birthday buttons Showing off our ears! We were in line for Rock n’ Rollercoaster right when our fastpass time opened.  We love this ride!! One of my favorite rides! After finishing the ride, we walked into some of the shops before heading out.  We didn’t buy anything and went out to catch the boat to Epcot!! The boat ride was a nice change from the bus and again, it was a BEAUTIFUL day.  Not humid at all, a little windy and sunny. At Epcot our goal was to walk around and look at all the topiaries since it was Flower & Garden Festival time and to have a sit down lunch at Via Napoli. We walked around just taking it all in – I absolutely LOVE just walking around Epcot World Showcase.  It’s perfect for an adults only trip. Another magic shot Check out the topiaries – aren’t they beautiful?! Snow White and the Dwarves Beauty and the Beast Captain Hook & Peter Pan Lady and the Tramp Bambi and Thumper Simba Anna and Elsa Entrance to the park We walked around one half of the World Showcase and then headed back to Italy for our 1:15pm reservation at Via Napoli.  We split an appetizer (arancini) and an individual pepperoni pizza.  They also brought us out a dessert for our birthdays!  It was the perfect meal and just enough to fill us up but not make us miserable. Arancini (fried risotto) Individual Sized Pepperoni Pizza Birthday dessert! After finishing up our walk around the World Showcase, we headed over to Test Track for the Single Rider line.  We only waited about 15 minutes – this is definitely the way to do this ride! After the ride, we headed over to the Disney Visa Character Spot (a perk of the Disney Visa), and which characters did we see?  Minnie AND Pluto!!  We were kind of hoping for Minnie & Mickey, but hey – we were happy with any, especially with no line!! Minnie and Pluto wanted to read my shirt….. Minnie and Pluto reading my shirt I love Minnie! After our character meet, we headed out to get our picture in front of the ball for our Number 3 Park!! Park 3!! We then hopped on the monorail (all modes of Disney transport checked off!) and were off to Magic Kingdom! We got to Magic Kingdom around 4:30pm.  We stopped in front of the castle for our Number 4 Park pics (wanted to get them before we looked like walking zombies!).  Although we both were surprised that we were not exhausted at this point.   I really think that the great weather with no humidity helped, because usually in a typical one park day, my feet are hurting by this point and I’m ready for a break. Park 4!! The lines for all of the rides were pretty long at this point in the day and no fastpasses to be had until later in the night (Magic Kingdom was open until 1am – we definitely weren’t staying that long).  So we went first to Hall of Presidents to see it after the recent refurbishment.  They changed it right much and we enjoyed it!  After leaving there we headed over to Mickey’s Philharmagic.  I just love this show and the smell of blueberry pie!  We then went to grab some dinner at Casey’s.  We both got the corn dog nuggets, plastic cheese dipping sauce and fries.  The line is always so crazy in there – that is probably the longest line we waited in all day!  We found a table over by Main Street Bakery and sat and enjoyed our view: After eating we headed over to Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, always such a cute show.  By the time we got out, it was almost time to find a spot to watch the fireworks.  But first we had things we wanted to buy in the gift shop, so we stopped to do that.  We had about 5 minutes to spare after shopping and grabbed us a place on Main Street right in front of the castle.  This was the first time either one of us has seen the Happily Ever After fireworks and we really enjoyed it. I was thankful that it was an Extra Magic Hours night so everyone wasn’t rushing out at the same time.  As you can see, we look kind of tired by this point: We were on the bus around 9:30pm and were actually able to sit down!  When we arrived at Saratoga Springs, we still needed to check in!  Thankfully it was not busy and we were in our rooms by around 10:15pm.  Our original plan was to eat breakfast at Kona Café for some Tonga Toast, but we decided to cancel our reservation and just eat at the food court.  We wanted a little time to sleep in before heading off for our cruise on the Disney Wonder!! We had an amazing time and although I wouldn’t do #4Parks1Day every time I’m at Disney, it was perfect for a one day trip to hit some of our favorites!

Today on the blog I will be doing Cruise Comparisons:  Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas vs. Disney Cruise Line 3-Night Cruise. #1: Ship and Staterooms Winner: Disney is the clear winner. Ship is much prettier, Staterooms nearly 100 Sq ft bigger (Oceanview room). Disney ship looks new after their renovations. RC still looks like a 24 year old ship. Disney Magic:  First sailed 1997..only 5 years newer than the RC Majesty but a world of difference as Disney consistently does upgrades on all their ships. Magic most recently received new carpet, decor, kids areas updated). Royal Caribbean  Majesty of the Seas:  First sailed 1992. Upgrades were done in May 2016 but it still looked like a 24 year old ship to us…other than outdoor movie screen with limited views…struggling to see what was upgraded. Disney Magic Oceanview Room:  214 square feet with split bathrooms (toilet and sink in one bathroom, shower and sink in the other, plus a separate living area/sleeping area separated by curtain). Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas Oceanview Room:  Only 120 square feet…two twins pushed together and no separate living area. Very small porthole window and tiny bathroom. Also in desperate need of updates. No way more than 2 people would fit in this room. #2: Castaway Cay (Disney) vs. Coco Cay (Royal Caribbean) Winner: Disney again. Both islands are beautiful. However Castaway has a larger beach area, chairs are not on top of each other (you can’t even step between 2 chairs at Coco Cay they are so close to each other). Disney had a separate adult only beach, a roped off snorkeling lagoon that is only for snorkelers, a floating water slide that is free of charge, and umbrellas free to use by the chairs. RC snorkeling lagoon has snorkelers or regular swimmers, no umbrellas unless you rent them ($50 pp), inflatable water slides ($22 pp – per hour!). Disney cruises start out more expensive initially but you really feel nickeled and dimed on RC. Disney’s lunch on the island was much more organized, RC had lines going every which way and was just a cluster. Food was better on Disney’s island too although RC wasn’t bad. Disney has towels on the island for pick up and drop off, RC you have to check out towels on ship and then bring them back on ship with you or be charged $25 per towel. Disney island is walk on from ship, with RC you have to be tendered over on a boat. Disney island with umbrellas and chairs spaced apart nicely. Coco cay with chairs about an inch apart. Disney’s free floating water slides.  No charge! Coco Cay inflatable water slides. $22 per person per hour. Ouch. Snorkeling in disney lagoon. Only snorkelers allowed. To rent snorkeling equipment charge is $31.18 ages 10+. $15.05 ages 3-9. Snorkeling in Coco Cay…also open to swimmers. Rentals $54 per adult, $44 per child. #3: Pre-cruise documentation / information and cruise check in process Winner – Disney. Disney mails you this great personalized spiral bound booklet containing important information you need to know before your cruise, along with sticker luggage tags. With Royal Caribbean you go online and print and staple or tape your luggage tags to your bags and print out your cruise documents. Check-in at the port is quick (15 minutes) and organized with Disney. With RC it took us an hour to get checked in. Disney also has a great app for you to download. Prior to your cruise there is a vacation countdown on the app. Once on cruise you can connect to wifi for free within the app and find ship layout, times for all activities offered, dinner menus and can text members in your party within the app. You also get a paper itinerary each day. Royal Caribbean only offers a paper itinerary. No app to find times or menus or texting so you either need to memorize schedule or carry paper around with you. Disney Cruise booklet Royal Caribbean vs Disney Cruise #4: Drink packages Winner: Royal Caribbean. Bet you all thought Royal wouldn’t win any of my comparisons. #5: DINING EXPERIENCE Winner: Disney. Disney has 3 main dining rooms, themed and beautifully decorated. On the Disney Dream the restaurants are Animators Palate, Enchanted Garden and The Royal Palace. Your servers follow you to each restaurant each night. They know you by name, remember what you like to eat, drink, etc. Service is top notch. With Royal Caribbean you go to the same (plain) dining room every night. You do have same servers and although service is good, they don’t personalize it like Disney does. They don’t know your name and don’t care to. Lol. Animators Palate on the Disney Magic. Drawings on the wall start out in black and white and you guess what is being drawn…at the end of the meal they come to life and in color. Very cool. Enchanted Garden – Disney Dream Royal Palace – Disney Dream and now the Royal Caribbean Dining Room: Moonlight dining room on Royal Caribbean. Are you as underwhelmed as I was? So as you can see, I highly favor a Disney Cruise.  My first cruise was actually a Disney Cruise.  I LOVED it.  I quickly booked a Royal Caribbean cruise next….after all, it was cheaper.  Well, I found out why.  As they always say, you get what you pay for.  The Disney brand delivers…exceptional customer service, extremely clean, always updating ships to keep them looking new and modern and plenty of activities to keep you busy – at no extra cost.  We felt like we had to pay for activities (spa, etc) to keep us entertained on the Royal Caribbean cruise.  This post, of course, is only comparing the 3-night cruises.  Royal Caribbeans 7-night cruises are on their nicer, newer ships and therefore should be more competitive. Have you sailed both Disney Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean?  I would love to hear your thoughts! As an Independent Travel Agent with Mouse Counselors, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, I offer concierge travel planning for Walt Disney World® Resort, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland® Resort, Adventures by Disney®, Aulani and all other non-Disney destinations (all cruise lines, All-Inclusive Resorts, European vacations & more) at no cost to you.  Message me today if I can help book a magical vacation for you.

If you’re reading this review, then you know I received permission from my loving wife, Tammy, to experience a new adventure without her by my side. This vacation was a stray from my more frequent Disney vacations with Tammy and the family but I was up for the challenge. My best friend Justin had introduced me to the Outlaw Country themed cruise on the Norwegian Pearl that he had experienced himself one year earlier. For a few months leading up to the cruise I would spend time tuning into Outlaw Country to familiarize myself with the genre that would fill four of my days in January. I’ll admit, it was a struggle; some of the songs reminded me of story tellers long ago (think Merl Haggard, Johnny Cash, and George Jones), and others, well, there lyrics were just bizarre. Nonetheless, I was looking forward to hanging out with best bud and experiencing awesome music from cruise favorites like Blackberry Smoke, The Mavericks, Jesse Dayton, Nikki Lane, Steve Earl, Elizabeth Cook, and Ray Wylie Hubbard. For more highlights from the Outlaw Country Cruise, see my trip report here. Of course this is a repeat picture from my Outlaw Country Cruise Blog but Justin is the reason I was on The Pearl, and hey, it’s a good picture! Let’s get back to the Norwegian Pearl. A beautiful ship, built in 2006 and refurbished in 2017, with capacity for 2,394 passengers, this ship is the perfect size for a themed cruise. In comparison, the Pearl is similar to the Disney Wonder which entered service in 1999, re-imagineered in 2016, and has capacity for 2,400 passengers. The Norwegian Pearl is home to 16 dining options, 15 bars/lounges, a casino, and a quaint, relaxing spa. Because it was a themed cruise with several artists and bands on board, The Indigo main dining room, was reserved for the musicians, and beautifully designed Le Bistro Restaurant was reserved for use by the Sixthman Production team, but there were plenty of other food options available. Also, the La Cucina Italian Restaurant was not serving meals during this cruise but it was available for cruisers eating the Garden Café buffet and wanted a quiet environment to eat. La Cucina has a beautiful, rustic environment with a row of external window to the left (not shown in picture) that allow for wonderful views and plenty of natural light The Garden Café Buffet and The Great Outdoors dining areas were the main restaurants for most passengers (did I mention that I never felt crowded on this cruise?). Breakfast offered plentiful options for passengers wanting to eat healthy with oatmeal, bagels, yogurt, and fruit; or for passengers who threw caution to the wind and wanted to enjoy vacation with omelet stations, sausage, crisp bacon, waffles, and even biscuits and gravy! We would always grab our plates and head aft to the Great Outdoors tables to eat on the back deck. The fresh air and views were hard to beat. Garden Café – very bright, clean, and great food Garden Café Indoor seating area My usual breakfast from the Garden Café, with an occasional bowl of oatmeal There is an identical breakfast buffet in the Great Outdoors, just steps away from the Garden Café Lunch offered delicious ballpark options of hamburgers, hot dogs, and French fries. There was always grilled fish, grilled chicken, daily soups, and even an Asian wok bar that provided a variety of options. Another great lunch location or late evening munchie option was O’Sheehan’s that felt like a neighborhood sports bar and had some of the best wings and nacho’s I’ve ever had. I tried one of the specialty hot dogs one day but was left disappointed. O’Shennan’s surrounds the Atrium area. Seating is available on both side of the Atrium with a bar in the middle, which is behind me in this picture Awesome Chicken Fajitas in O’Shennan’s The Asian Wok bar and grilled fish provided a healthy option for lunch in the Garden Café Our favorite dinner option every evening was the Summer Palace, themed to resemble a Russian Palace. There was a standard menu for dinner but every evening there were daily specials. The food was delicious every evening. We had fantastic options like crab cakes, grilled pork chop, seared tilapia, and the most delicious spaghetti bolognaise I’ve ever tasted! Hint, we received faster service the two evening we sat closer to the kitchen. Summer Place – a beautiful entrance before entering a Russian Palace Summer Place Dining Room – Available for dinner every evening Faberge and Decorated Eggs decorated the staircases and rails The Tilapia was light, fluffy, and flavorful I am not lying, this was the BEST spaghetti with meat sauce that I have ever tasted…and my mother’s side of the family is Italian…Shhhh Let’s just say that Justin and I ate dinner every night in Summer Place – Chocolate Lava Cake The Norwegian Pearl is also home to the Mandara Spa. We paid around $145 for a Thermal Suite Pass that allowed us access to the spa each day of the cruise. The Spa was well outfitted with several spa treatment rooms, and several amenities in the men’s locker room including a steam room, sauna, single whirlpool, and chilly plunge pool (for those of you who are into shocking your body). The Co-ed area had several lounger chairs that faced the front of the ship, a 4-person hot tub, warm mosaic tile lounges, and a large relaxation pool with several features. This is co-ed area of the spa. There were several jets that would activate the water in this jet/hot pool. The lounge chairs in the background faced forward, so you could relax and see exactly where the ship was headed Men’s Locker Room, complete with a sauna, steam room, individual hot tub, and an icy plunge pool, if you’re into that kind of thing Once you’ve had plenty of time to relax, there’s a casino and Bar City area that is great for staying active afterhours: Bar City Lounge. The Magnum Champagne Wine Bar is in the foreground The one area on the ship that provided the most surreal experience was the Bliss Lounge. Decorated in lush purple and maroon colors, heavy drapes, and plush furniture, including a four-post bed (yes, you read that correctly), and a couple of side VIP-style rooms. Notice the four-post bed in the background to the right – none of the cruisers knew what this was for) Bliss Lounge has four bowling lanes If you are into staying fit during your cruise, the fitness was well-equipped with plenty of cardio pieces of equipment, new nautilus-style machines, and free weights. Healthy food options on board included plenty of fresh fruit, grilled chicken, fish, vegetable, oatmeal, and protein packed omelets. If you have children traveling with you on the Norwegian Pearl, keeping them entertained will be a challenge. There is an Entourage Arcade, a small childcare area, and the smallest kid’s splash pad area I’ve ever seen on a ship, almost as if it was an afterthought or obligatory nod to the one or two families who may have decided to bring their small children onboard. Yep, this is the splash area for kids on the 12th deck if I remember correctly, so it’s not close to the large adult pool area on deck 11 Entourage Arcade – small but adequate We had one port of call during the cruise, Costa Maya, Mexico, which was promoted as a destination built specifically for tourists. If you’re familiar with the commercialization of Myrtle Beach, SC and the variety of Tanger Outlet Malls, imagine if they had a baby.  There were some authentic Mexican vendors but the NFL blazoned items that decorated their shops was puzzling. If you want to visit the Mayan Ruins, there’s an excursion for that. If you want to swim with the dolphins, there’s a small man-made lagoon for that, but it pales in comparison to the awesome and educational dolphin experience available at Discovery Cove in Orlando, FL.  You can read our trip report about Discovery Cove here. Costa Maya – View from the ship The pier looks long but it’s a nice, easy walk…a lot better than being tendered onto shore Costa Maya Plaza Area Commercialization to American tourist was front and center as soon as you walked into the shopping area There were several quaint restaurants and eating areas away from the crowded shopping district One of the coolest areas in Coast Maya was the open pool area. You could grab a lounge chair, relax, or swim and float in the pool. There was also a snorkeling area for those interested, but I didn’t see anyone taking advantage of that opportunity during our visit. Pool area in the middle of the shopping area. Notice the Norwegian Pearl in the distance Just another view of the pool area In all, the Norwegian Pearl was a very pleasant surprise. It was colorful, clean, and the food was excellent. The updated furnishing and airy common space areas were a visible indicator that the ship had recently come out of dry dock for refreshing. It’s hard to compare any cruise line to Disney’s Cruise Line for kid friendly options and activities, and with the Pearl’s tiny kid’s splash pad area, this ship is probably better suited for adult only cruises.

My husband is our guest blogger today!  He recently went on the Outlaw Country Cruise on the Norwegian Pearl.  Here’s his trip report – enjoy! I’m an outlaw. Yes I am. I was baptized and immersed by Outlaw royalty like Steve Earl, Rodney Crowell, and Roger Alan Wade. “Snake farm, it just sounds nasty. Snake farm, it pretty much is. Snake farm, It’s a reptile house. Snake farm. Uuuggghhh”; If you know these words, then you’re an outlaw too. If not, come with me on this journey and you will soon know the legend named Ray Wiley Hubbard. Have you ever thought about vacationing in the Gulf of Mexico on a themed cruise? Me either, but in 2018 I did just that. Twelve months earlier my best friend Justin cruised on the 2nd Annual Outlaw Country Cruise, a music festival themed to represent the musicians onboard that frequent the airwaves of the Sirius XM Channel that bears the same name. Now mind you, I don’t frequently listen to Outlaw Country but Justin insisted that this would be a great cruise, with awesome music, and my loving wife and awesome travel agent, Tammy, viewed this as an opportunity to experience a ship in the Norwegian Cruise Lines fleet. They were both right! Me and Justin on Deck 12 for the Sail Away Concert by The Mavericks The 3rd Annual Outlaw Country Cruise was based on the Norwegian Pearl and is one of many themed cruises coordinated by Sixthman Productions who’s responsible for other themed cruises such as The Walking Dead, The Kiss Kruise, Keeping The Blues Alive, Pitbull After Dark Party, Kid Rock’s Chilln’ The Most Cruise, Brantley Gilbert’s Kick It in the Ship Cruise, and more. Apparently Sixthman contracts with Norwegian Cruise Lines to host these cruises for a month or two during the winter months. The Pearl was based out of New Orleans for this cruise; boasting capacity for 2,394 passengers, 15 bar/lounge options, and a casino…making it the perfect size ship for any themed cruise. When you think New Orleans, you think Bourbon Street and Mardi Gras, and one of the unexpected benefits of this Outlaw Country Cruise was the ability to arrive the day before setting sail and boarding one night early, essentially using the Pearl as a hotel. Once aboard, passengers were allowed to disembark and tour New Orleans Sunday evening or Monday morning to sightsee or eat at any one of the fabulous restaurants downtown. The only challenge is, the port is eight to ten blocks from downtown, making it a bit of an inconvenience to walk to when the weather forecast was calling for rain as it was during our stay. (Hint: The 4th Annual Outlaw Country Cruise will depart from Tampa, FL in 2019) The Mississippi River was foggy the morning of our departure Because this was a themed cruise, the pool deck was retrofitted with the main outdoor stage, but another pool and whirlpool was on the option end of the deck for anyone wanting to get wet during a concert. The musical genre was represented by 16+ musicians. In addition to the artists mentioned in the opening paragraph, some of my favorites included Jesse Dayton, Nikki Lane, Elizabeth Cook, Blackberry Smoke, and The Mavericks. A daily schedule allowed us to plan our musical travels from venue to venue Musical performances were staggered all day long in five different venues: Stardust Theatre, the Pool Deck, the Atrium (O’Sheenan’s overlooks the Atrium), Bar City, and Spinnaker Lounge. While at sea, music would begin at 11:30 am and usually conclude around 1:00 am on the Atrium or Spinnaker stage. Blackberry Smoke on stage in the Stardust Theatre Elizabeth Cook performing in the Atrium One of the craziest and most surreal locations on the ship was the Bliss Lounge. This is where me and Justin attended a guitar playing session by Ray Wylie Hubbard, who before the cruise I only knew as the guy who sang the crazy song “Snake Farm” but Ray is a great story teller and his songs are really cool. Bliss Lounge – complete with bowling lanes (not shown) and a four-post bed in the background– not sure what that’s supposed to be used for? Synonymous with cruising is eating! And the Outlaw Country Cruise is no different. The Pearl is outfitted with 16 dining options (of which 12-13 were available during the Outlaw cruise). We always ate our breakfast at the buffet in the Garden Café, our lunches and late night snacks in O’Sheenan’s, and our dinners in the Summer Palace. Believe me, I was skeptical about what the food quality might be on a themed cruise but we ate everything in sight and enjoyed every bite! For more detailed pictures and notes about the Norwegian Pearl’s restaurants, and food options, visit my review of the Norwegian Pearl here. Summer Place Dining Room – Available for dinner every evening Seafood Crab Cake in Summer Place – unbelievably delicious Justin said this pork chop was tender, juicy, and perfect What good is dinner without dessert – this Lava Cake dessert was a perfect finish Garden Café Buffet – Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner everyday And if you’re into the bar and casino scene, you have 15+ bar options and a casino equipped with plenty of slots, roulette wheel, blackjack, and poker tables The Outlaw Country branding was everywhere, including the blackjack table Bar City was the site of many intimate concerts; Magnums was conveniently located to keep our beverage topped off In all, this Outlaw Country Cruise was a fun, great experience, and one that Justin and I plan to repeat in 2019.  If you’re looking for more details on the Norwegian Pearl like the Mandara Spa or fitness activities, visit my review of the Norwegian Pearl here.