Disney Alaska Cruise: Last Day @ Sea

On Saturday the kids and I slept in until 8:30 a.m.!  Well, we did turn our clocks forward 1 hour overnight, so it really felt like 7:30 a.m., but that is still pretty late for us.  D was disciplined and ran early in the morning everyday on the running track on Deck 4.

The kids grabbed breakfast from Cabanas.  They brought it back to our room and ate on the verandah.

D and I did not eat breakfast since we had brunch reservations at the adults-only Palo restaurant.

We dropped the kids off at the kids’ club.  They were supposed to make Stitch’s space goo (slime), but there was a mix-up, so they did not do that activity.  They ate lunch at Cabanas with my parents and went to a cooking demonstration after that.

There is a $30 surcharge per person for the Italian restaurant.  I think it was definitely worth it for the experience.  The service was exceptional–it felt like we had our own waiter, even though I think he did have at least one other table to take care of.  He accompanied us to the buffet and explained the offerings.

This huge wheel of parmesan cheese was quite impressive.  I had a small piece with a little bit of honey that had a really delicate taste.  It was like nothing I have ever tasted before!

I ordered a grape pizza that is no longer on the menu.  I had read reviews of people raving about the combination of grapes and bleu cheese and had to try it for myself.  D ordered a sausage pizza.  They were both really good, and the crust was thin and crisp.

For our main entrees, we had chicken parmesan and an eggplant dish.  Both were excellent, but kind of difficult to fully enjoy with all of the other offerings.

Plus, we had to save room for dessert!  I loved the presentation and small portions.  I think the waiter said it was mandatory for us to try at least five.

Well, if we must…

Last ice cream run.

Last dip in the pool and going down the slide.

While D and the kids were in the pool, I snuck a peak at the re-scheduled Frozen deck party.  We did the majority of our packing in the afternoon as well.  Our typical vacations have us staying in one place only one or two nights at a time so we never really unpack.  Here, we really made ourselves at home, so packing back up was quite an undertaking.

Our farewell dinner was at Animator’s Palate.  There was a special activity where you draw a character at the beginning of the meal and then it comes to life in a cartoon that is shown on the walls at the end.

D was serious about his drawing!

The walls coordinated with the servers’ shirts.

There were less choices during this meal because they wanted to expedite service for the animated show at the end.

Kids’ appetizer

Adults Appetizer Sampler

k had the Grilled Garlic Marinated Shrimp with Linguine, which she really enjoyed.  This picture is making me hungry right now!

n had the Chicken Schnitzel off of the adults menu.  Looking back, we did not eat too much chicken in the dining room on the cruise.

Beef Wellington–the kids were interested in this since they have seen Gordon Ramsay’s version on Master Chef.

Roasted Filet of Alaskan Sockeye Salmon

Shahrang had also told us about the “secret menu” Indian food that they offer and brought us some.  The chicken was a little spicy, and very tasty!

I was not able to figure out the video lighting until the very end, but this gives you an idea of how the drawings come to life.https://flic.kr/p/VbKBn6

We also had the servers sing happy birthday to my BIL, even though he does not like that type of thing.

The kids had decorate your own cupcakes for dessert.

The adults had Celebration Cake.

Our last towel creation. 🙁

I did my first pin swap with the ships’ officers and was able to snag these two Disney cruiseline pins.

We went to the last show, called Disney Dreams.  It was very well done, and a nice way to end our cruise.

We had to wake up n the last morning.  Our breakfast was scheduled at around 7:15, I think.  We had told Frances that we planned to eat our breakfast in the dining room, but that we would leave our luggage in the room and then do express walk-off.  He said that was fine, and it worked out well.

We were back in Vancouver, where it all began!

The menus were called “See Ya Real Soon!”  We all ordered the Route 66.

The debarkation process was remarkably smooth and efficient.  We took the Skytrain to Vancouver Airport even though our flight was not until 2 p.m.  (My parents and sisters stayed another night in Vancouver and did not leave until the next day).

We watched this woman set up and basically run this Japa Dog stand just outside the airport by herself.  It opened early, so we were able to try it out.

Having had a big breakfast, we just shared one so we could have a taste.  Lots of umami going on here.

We also used our time at the airport to try another Canadian institution: Tim Horton’s.

We had an assortment of Tim Bits.  n liked the salted caramel flavor.

We boarded our plane, landed in LAX, picked up our car at the Parking Spot and returned home without incident.

Thank you for accompanying us on our adventure.  It was truly an experience that we will never forget, and I am so thankful to my parents for making it possible.  I hope this series of posts will help preserve our memories and offer some useful tips to those planning a trip of their own.  If you have not been to Alaska, I would definitely put it on your list of places to visit.  I know that going Disney-style is not for everyone, but the family-friendly atmosphere, impeccable service, excellent food, and outstanding entertainment were perfect for our three generations to enjoy together