Here We Go Again!!!

 

I like to blog but just don’t get around to it often. I did it all through nursing school to keep family and friends up to date of all the things going on and to share the excitement as I learned each new thing (and if you haven’t read those early years, ten years ago, lol, here is the link My Nursing Journey. Then life got hectic and I would occasionally throw up a post here or there but nothing really until our big trip to Hawaii last year. I had such a good time reliving our ‘second honeymoon’ last year while I blogged it that I thought I’d share this amazing trip also.

In June of 2024, after we returned home from our amazing trip to Aulani, the next ‘Big Trip’ planned was another cruise to Alaska. We have cruised Alaska twice before and loved it so much we were going to do it a third time. The beauty of it is something you can enjoy over and over. Within a couple weeks of returning home from Hawaii, Disney cruise had released their next set of fall cruises (our Alaskan cruise, was the very last one of the season), so the next cruise after that was posted and it was a cruise from Vancouver to Hawaii with stops on four Hawaiian islands!!! A ten-night cruise for just about the same price we were planning for our seven-night Alaskan cruise! So, I texted Dale, since I was at work and said ‘hey! Want to cruise to Hawaii?’ That’s all it took!!! And we were going back to Hawaii, and this time, we were going to see FOUR islands!!! We truly thought when we left Oahu it would be the only time we would ever be there. So we reset our countdowns and in 454 days we were going to be on board the Disney Wonder for an amazing 10-night Hawaiian Cruise from Vancouver to Hawaii!

So the planning began! We hadn’t been on a cruise since March 2022. It was a 14-night Westbound Panama Canal Cruise from New Orleans to San Diego. We had to wear masks indoors. We had to test to get on the ship. I broke my foot the weekend before, but thankfully, we were still able to go, with a boot and a knee scooter.

Thankfully, we did have some trips (and a LOT of renovations) to keep us occupied since this trip was so far away. The first was Andrew’s first trip to Walt Disney World! Then in November we completely renovated two bathrooms. I now have the bathroom of my dreams! In December Dale and I went to Disney World since we hadn’t been back to Disney at Christmas time in several years. We have been going to Vero Beach in December lately and really enjoying that, but last year, seeing all the Disney Christmas post, had me missing (FOMO) and so we spent five nights at Animal Kingdom Kidani. As soon as we got home it was time to pack up our kitchen and empty out our first level as our major renovation was starting January 2nd! We survived contractors in our house for the entire month of January while we ripped out our kitchen, all flooring on the first floor, all wall paper on the first and second level and had the house painted. It was a BIG job but we were so happy and in love with everything when it was done. We had one more trip before it was time to really start counting down. We went back to Vero Beach in May and realized that we love Vero in December but not so much in May. We did have an awesome room in the Inn vs our regular one bedroom villa and found some great places to eat locally, but I was eaten alive by the ‘noseeums’.  So now, onto our amazing trip.

So yes, we booked this trip, 450some days in advance, that’s how we plan our trips, that is how we afford our cruises. You pay your deposit and then you can make payments along the way until your final payment is due and in our case it was 120 days before sailing. In April, I did a ‘thing’. I contacted our amazing TA (travel agent) and if you need an amazing travel agent, Lisa was a personal friend before she was my TA and she is always watching out for her clients. I can tell you that she has sent me an email at midnight when she booked a cabin on a sold out cruise because she had been keeping an eye, waiting and watching for someone to cancel so we could get a cabin, (but this is our next one, so no more about that one!). Here is Lisa’s contact info if you need a travel agent, and she is not just a Disney travel agent, she can book just about anything you are looking for!!! Lisa Reese - Pixie & Pirate Destinations, oh back to that ‘thing’ I did…. I contacted Lisa and asked her to upgrade us to a concierge cabin! My goal was to initially surprise Dale. Well, that surprise lasted a week, an entire week that I tried to keep my secret but I was dying. I just couldn’t keep it in. We had watched YouTube videos about concierge on the cruises and saw what cost and had said ‘no way’ would we ever be able to do that. 

This sailing was happening just a 20 days after our anniversary and less than two weeks before Dale’s birthday, so we had reason to celebrate! I broke down and told him one evening while we were on the deck (oh, that was one of the new things added to the house, we did a lot this past year, lol) with Whitney enjoying the fire table. I told him I had a surprise about our cruise. Did he want to know now, or wait until he cruise… He of course, wanted to know NOW! He was blown away! 

We started watching YouTube videos and researching all we could on concierge on the Wonder. Joined Facebook groups and read all we could find about this amazing opportunity we were going to enjoy. As we were leading up to this trip, we booked our flights to Vancouver and our flight home from Honolulu. We decided to fly American to Vancouver through Chicago. We always fly out at least one day in advance, just in case of any issues. Thankfully, we have never had any, but we do know friends who did and missed their cruise. We booked our return flights on Delta One home because if you have to fly ten plus hours non stop, the only real way to do that is in a first class seat that lays flat so you can get some rest, and it was going to be an over night flight so we definitely needed that. We booked our hotel for our one night in Vancouver. We have stayed in Vancouver twice before and stayed at different places each time. This time we decided to go ahead and stay at the Pan Pacific which is right at the Canada Place Cruise terminal. This way, we truly just would take an elevator down to the first floor and walk down the hall to the cruise terminal. We also knew we wanted to stay a couple of nights at Aulani after our cruise. We are Disney Vacation Club members and could use our points to book a stay at Aulani but not until seven months from the date we wanted and knowing that a LOT of people from our cruise were booking stays after the cruise, we decided to rent points from a friend and book further out to ensure we had a room for the two nights after our cruise.

For the more than year leading up to the cruise, we were part of a Facebook group with other people who were going on this same cruise. The person who was the administrator for the group invited me to also admin with her. I have been the administrator for quite a few of our cruises int he past. Earlier this past year though, she had to cancel her cruise so I was the only admin left with the group. Not a problem for the most part. There were other volunteers who helped with lots of other things we planned for the group. Our Facebook group grew to over 500 people before we sailed! For those who are not familiar with the happenings of a Facebook group for cruises, we use it for sharing information with people who may have not sailed before; people can offer suggestions or tips on where to go to find things, recommendations for places to book, where to stay, excursions to plan. We also use it to plan things on board the ship. We planned meet ups, a scavenger hunt, a pub crawl, a 5K on board the ship, some smaller gathers. LOTS of exchanges were planned, think secret Santa! Candy exchanges, recipe exchange and so much more! The fun thing is that you get to ‘know’ people before you get on board the ship! You find out you are sailing with people you already know, we found out we were sailing with our former next door neighbors! You make new friends! It’s an amazing opportunity!  So all this planning paid off and now it’s time to go!!!

Oh, how I like to start all vacations…. with a mani/pedi. I think everyone needs to do some self care and Dale does not think he needs any but boy does he actually relax when he gets in that pedicure chair. No he doesn’t get any polish but he does enjoy the treatment.

We had a very early flight, 7am from Philly to Vancouver with a layover in Chicago. Since we were not flying into the airport we were flying out of, we couldn’t park our car there and due to the very early time we needed to be at the airport, I needed to arrange for transportation to the airport. When we renewed our vows, I used a limo service for Aubre and I to get to the restaurant and contacted them but it was more than $200 for a 15min ride, yes, we are fifteen minutes from the airport at 5am on the weekend! None of the kids were able to take us due to their schedules and I was a little leary of using Uber in case they didn’t show and knew we were going to have a LOT of luggage. Yes we had four checked bags and each had a carry on! We were going for two full weeks! And in one of my bags I had SEVEN pounds of medals for the 5K that I coordinated on board the ship! So I took a leap of faith and good reviews and booked Blue Hen Limo for our short ride to the airport. The price was much more affordable, included the tip and the ride was a large Lincoln Navigator, so there was no worry about all of our luggage fitting. The driver was professional, arrived a few minutes early and we chatted on the short ride to the airport. We were very pleased with the service and will used them again when we need a ride to the airport. It was a nice luxurious ride. We walked right on through TSA with pre check. There were hardly any lines for a Monday morning, which was odd but it was still early. In not time we were seated at a very empty gate awaiting our flight. Our plane had arrived the evening before, so at least we knew we were not going to have to wait on a delay this morning for that, but of course we would need a crew to show up. We were surprised how soon to boarding time people show up at the gate. We fly Southwest a lot and the boarding process is more chaotic. American was so organized and it was so nice that they board the place in sections and you could pretty much find overhead storage above your seat. We were on the plane and ready to take off in no time.

In two hours we arrived in Chicago, actually a little ahead of schedule so we arrived in a different terminal that we were scheduled so that threw us for a loop when we got off the plane. After a little walking around we figured out where we needed to go to get to the terminal that our connection would depart from. We had plenty of time. We stopped for a coffee and a quick bite since this flight was going to be four hours. The gates in Chicago are much smaller, at least the one that we were departing from. There were a couple planes departing from a couple gates close together and it was virtually standing room. We were now considered an international flight since this flight was landing in Vancouver, Canada. I cannot tell you how many times they repeated for individuals to have their passports open and their boarding passes when they approached the gate. Obviously people were NOT listening since they needed to repeat it again and again.  But soon it was time to board our second flight and we were off to Vancouver!!! 

When we landed in Vancouver we followed the masses to go through customs, where we had already done our Advance CBSA (Canadian Border Service Agency) Declaration. This made it so easy, so all we had to do was scan our passport, take our photo and proceed through the lines. We then gathered our luggage and proceeded through another line. You know in the airports where they have those luggage carts that they charge you to use to push all your bags around, well in Canada they are FREE to use!!! Go figure! So we had grabbed one before we grabbed our luggage from the carousel and this made life so much easier as we made our way to the exit. Thankfully there were some information booths where we stopped to ask about a taxi. We had debated between taking the Skytrain, an Uber or a Taxi from the airport to our hotel. We opted for a taxi after others from our Facebook group had posted. The information booth let us know the set rate for the ride to our hotel. So we finally exited the airport and got into the taxi line and they ask how many bags and people you have and determine which car you’ll get in. All of our bags fit into the small SUV they directed us too, granted I was a little nervous but no worries, the driver knew what he was doing. 

It was a good thirty minute ride to our hotel as traffic was starting to pick up but thankfully, we didn’t have to worry about it. We were dropped right in front of our hotel where our bags were loaded by the bellman and held until our we were checked in to our room. We knew that check in was not until 4pm and it was only 2:00 when we arrived, but we were hoping. As we stood in line to check in, we watched as each group in front of us was given a room key and directions to their room and then our turn and in typical Disney fashion, “sorry, your room is not ready just yet, we will text you when it is”!!! So typical for us! 

We decided it was time to get some REAL food, so off we went across the street to the food court. Dale swears we ate here before, but boy, my brain that used to remember everything was not remembering it. I think it goes back to that Covid brain fog, I swear! But needless to say, Dale got McDonalds because it is something he does not get at home and I got Pad Thai from an Asian place. Not thinking, I used CASH to pay, US currency!!! Oh my gosh, as soon as she gave me the Canadian change I rushed over to Dale and told him to NOT use cash, but let me pay with my card. I knew which cards I would not incur any fees on and had planned to use them in Canada but just didn’t think about it as I had purposely taken cash out to not use the credit card on vacation if not needed. After lunch we hit Starbucks and walked around a little bit before our room was finally ready. This hotel is a pricey hotel, you are paying to be staying right at the port, so I did not spend the extra money to have a harbor view, but we still had a partial harbor view which was nice. 

We got settled into our room, relaxed for a while, chatted online with some of our new friends and debated what to do for dinner. We were so messed up having lost three hours coming from the east coast and our bodies really didn’t know what time it was. We decided to walk over to Cactus Club Cafe right there at Coal Harbor, which was just a block away. The temperature was definitely starting to drop. We left Delaware and it was not very cool yet and we were headed to Hawaii. I knew we were going to have some cool temps and bought a couple of warmer, long sleeve tops but not many. When we arrived there, they asked if we wanted to sit inside or out and I said in since I was already cold. We waited a few minutes to be seated and were led to an area that I would have considered outside that was covered but heated. We each had a drink, Dale had an espresso martini and I had an aperol spritz. I order an amazing creole crab and spinach dip that was served with fresh nacho chips. It was so creamy and good! Dale had a cajun chicken sandwich with fries (and they were very tasty also). Dinner was delicious! We were stuffed and made our way back to the hotel where we called it a night! Tomorrow we were going to board the Wonder!