Our dreams came true - a Disney Cruise!

Bailey and I have dreamed about a Disney cruise for years and years. We frequently looked at all the pictures on the Disney cruise website and studied the itineraries and layouts of the different ships.  Each of our kids has the chance to go on a senior trip with parents, and Bailey debated for a long time but chose a cruise on the Disney Wonder with a 5 day itinerary on the West Coast, from San Diego to Vancouver, Canada, with a stop in San Francisco. Because we weren't able to figure out how to get both Dan and me on vacation with Bailey for a week, Dan stayed home to man the homefires and I was the lucky chaperone for the senior trip!  

We traveled to San Diego a day early to walk around Old Town and eat some fabulous Mexican food.

We posed by lots of cheesy faux Mexican backdrops and walked all around Old Town San Diego, touring the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center and sampling chocolates at a fantastic candy store.

The next morning we were on our way!  Look who was there to greet us!

Our stateroom was so perfect.  Small but just big enough for us.  The bathroom was teeny tiny.

Of course, every night our steward left us chocolates on the bed with a folded towel animal.

Before the ship left port we walked around all the decks and checked out our temporary home.

The ship is so charming and filled with special Disney touches.  

We especially liked the section of the ship modeled after Route 66.

and all the fun portholes.

But one of the highlights of the cruise was the amazing food.  Every meal was in one of the themed restaurants, and the food was delicious and imaginative. We ordered anything and everything that sounded good from the menus.  Our motto was "why not."  As in . . . . "I can't decide between the chocolate cake, the baked Alaska, the cheesecake and the torte.  I think I'll have them all.  Why not?"

Some of the time for lunch we ate at the buffet restaurant and sat outside on top of the ship.  That worked great until the last few days of the cruise, when a cold front dropped the temperature dramatically!

Bailey and I loved, loved, loved the day we spent in San Francisco. It was quirky and unique and full of history, beautiful buildings, and delicious food.  

We bought hop on/hop off tickets but after waiting in lines several times to re-board the buses we decided to just walk.  So we walked up and down almost every neighborhood in San Francisco.  It was a great way to get a feel for the city, and also a good way to work off some of the extra desserts we had been eating at every meal!

Bailey definitely wanted to see these famous "Painted Lady" Victorian Houses which provide an interesting juxtaposition to the nearby modern skyscrapers. Is she a fan of architecture? Nah. She wanted to see where Full House was filmed! 

We had a gigantic ice cream sundae at Ghiradellis to re-fortify ourselves.  Because why not?

Back on the ship, we played Disney Music Trivia and Bailey just about took the grand prize (which was a Mickey ribbon). I knew all those years watching Disney cartoons would pay off big!

And the evening entertainment every night was just sensational.  Broadway-caliber shows performed in a big theater.  Our favorite was the final night's performance of Disney Dreams. I have to admit that it made me cry!

When we were relaxing in our room we watched the Disney cartoon channel on our TV or listened to the channel of nonstop Disney tunes.

 I tried my best to convince Bailey to pose with all the Disney characters. This is the closest we got to a picture with the princesses.  

 On the final day she agreed to one picture with Mickey.

On our last full day we took some dressed up pictures around the ship. The light was pretty weird for photos.

 Sadly, all great things have to come to an end, and Monday morning we packed our bags and said goodbye to the ship.

We then spent the day touring Vancouver, Canada. We have always wanted to see how this Vancouver differs from our hometown.  We had an interesting tour guide who gave us lots of interesting Canada nuggets as we drove around the city.  We did decide that both Vancouvers are very green and full of trees and bridges over water.

And look at this . . . we found a serendipitous Mickey Mouse icon in the parking lot of Stanley Park.

And finally, flying home to Vancouver, WA on this teeny tiny plane.  For the first time in my life I had to collect my luggage right on the tarmac and then walk quite a way across the tarmac to the terminal after deplaning.  

It was a gift to spend this week with my oldest daughter before she begins new adventures far away in Utah. It was a perfect week in every way!