Aloha Hawaii! Our 10 Day Cruise to Hawaii on the Disney Wonder, September 7, 2015 Trip Report completed 07/31/2016 About This Page:

[goofyboysmama]

Originally Posted by MayraLR

Great photos of the market

Originally Posted by jandsdennis

Signing in to see the rest of your trip. We left Aulani on the 21 of Sept. and while we were there a cruise had just landed and there were a lot of people coming to stay at the hotel.

That was our ship coming in! We weren't with that big group, we came later thankfully!

Originally Posted by Cam22

Pike Place Market always looks so cool!

So much to see and sample!

Originally Posted by xwewhisper

Glad you were able to get it all figured out and over to explore the market!

I would've explored a lot longer if I could have!

[goofyboysmama]

9/6 Seattle, con't...

We were ready for some eats by this time. It was so crowded and we didn't know where the good stuff was, but we all wanted some of what we had been taking pictures of. There are restaurants lining the market, so we just started reading the menus on the windows. Whew! It was pretty expensive and the waits were long, but we found a place called Lowell's that worked out. It was a little strange, but you stood in line to place your order, then you find a table to eat. They give you a number to put on your table and the servers come and find you. I should've taken a picture of these HUGE platters of food that they were carrying up 3 flights of stairs! We totally lucked out and scored a large table for the 6 of us on the bottom floor. One of the servers pointed it out to me as some people were leaving. While waiting for the table, I went outside the restaurant and snapped some more pics.






This photo is from their website. The round table is where we sat.



The (very!) extensive menu board.


The guy making my lox plate. Well I assumed it was because he had just opened up a jar of capers


My very refreshing locally brewed hard apple cider. I've been trying ciders lately with good success.


"House Cured Wild King Salmon Lox - garlic bread, pickled red onions, capers and cream cheese $18" THIS was very good. At first, I was a little puzzled over the salad and the garlic bread instead of bagel, but it was so yummy and fresh, I didn't care after the first bite.


"Lowell's Famous Fish & Chips - hand-breaded cod with fries, coleslaw, and tartar sauce $15" Max, Titus and Dh's mom got this. The adults liked it, but it was a little too "grown up" for the kids. The cod was super fresh and juicy. I don't think the kids were expecting "juicy" fried fish, lol.


"Fresh King Salmon Filet (grilled) - herb butter, vegetables and rice $22" Dh said it was excellent and perfectly cooked. The filet was bigger than it looks in this photo.

I wasn't sure what Anne got because I promised that I wouldn't be a pain and take pics of everyone's food. Well only half-promised

After a nice meal, we tallied up and went back into the market to look around some more. I would have spent a lot longer lingering at each shop or vendor, but I wasn't by myself. We found out that there were two floors and that the restrooms were down on the first floor.




Way to go Greenland, representing with one person!

After biobreaks (luv that Cam!), we ventured outside. It was drizzling a bit, but there were still lots of people shopping and taking pictures. There was still plenty to see (and smell!)








Martha and I seriously thought about how we'd get one of these home! You are supposed to let them air dry but we wouldn't be able to bring them with us or ship them home - I was afraid they would start to mold in the packaging while we were away


The pic here doesn't give the true colors justice.


We actually got in line for some roasted corn, but changed our minds. We do some pretty good grilled corn at home.




One very steep hill! Are we suddenly in San Fransisco?


Cheese making in action!






Probably tastes really good...


Oh yeah it was steep - whew! (luv the grafitti)


A look back down...


lovebirds...



We headed back to the light rail trying to retrace our steps. We all kind of remembered where we came out of the station at, but we couldn't figure out how to get back down to it! Finally, after taking a few right turns, somebody made the decision to just go into the Macy's we were circling and ask. Lo and behold, the train station was right below the store! Actually it was good that we went into Macy's because Dh had forgotten his sweater at home while putting some last minute things in the car. After looking for a while, he found a light pullover that he liked and then we were ready to go.


We thought it was pretty neat that the rail was "right on" the street, like a streetcar.


There was artwork everywhere, even in the stations. (...and Disney too!)




Our train finally came and we took a nice ride back to Tukwila, remembering to call the hotel for the van to pick us up from the station.




Back at the Tukwila station. See? Artwork everywhere.



It was getting dark by the time we got back. I didn't take very good notes that evening, but I think everyone was tired and a bit jetlagged. We got ready for the morning and hit our respective sacks sometime between 8pm and 9pm. After checking with the van driver, we knew we had to be ready at 4:30am for the 5am pick up. The driver only picks up on the top of the hour, so we had to take the first one in order to catch the 5:35am train into Seattle. We had to check in one hour early with Amtrak (6:45am for the 7:45am departure) because we'd be crossing the border into Canada. I had researched this extensively. I knew the times, I knew the train fares, and I knew that we had to board the train marked for bikes to fit all of our luggage. What I forgot was very important, and that would make for a stressful hiccup in the morning while we were standing there at the train station at 5:30 am.

Next: Oh Lordy, we need a Plan B! (and C)

[cubfancolleen]

Glad you were able to find a table for all of you for dinner.
Your sneak peek at the next installment doesn't sound good!

[chezp]

Your dinner spot looked great, although the teaser for your next update doesn't sound good.

[MayraLR]

Dinner looks so delicious!!
Your next installment doesn't sound too great.

[stardust190]

Sounds like a good start to the trip. I love the pictures of Seattle. We actually have friends who just moved to Seattle as they took a job with Sound Transit. It is how I'm planning to convince my DH that we need to take a cruise to Hawaii or Alaska. We need to go out there anyways to visit our friends.

[lauriep]

Looks like a great meal! It's always so hard to decide what to choose at those markets. The pepper creations are gorgeous. I'd have wanted one, too. Those streets are WAY steeper than San Francisco, right? I had a terrible time with the scooter on those!

[Pris]

I love Pike's Place Market! Didn't you just love the smell as you wandered through the flowers? I don't like the sounds of that next "hiccup"!

[xwewhisper]

Oh no your teaser has me a little nervous, a hiccup is never fun at 4:30am

[mcc0313]

I was so excited to see the start of your TR Angela. I am so looking forward to hearing all about your trip. I love your rainbow bridge photo.....just beautiful.

Crazy travel day but isn't that always the way. Love the pictures of the market (that would have been my choice too....I can walk through markets for hours).

[benchley]

Oh crumbs. What was plan c at 4.30am?

[pamcarey]

Your lunch looks and sounds wonderful! Your next update doesn't sound too good, though .

[goofyboysmama]

Originally Posted by cubfancolleen

Glad you were able to find a table for all of you for dinner.
Your sneak peek at the next installment doesn't sound good!

Yes, finding a table for a large group can be challenging

Originally Posted by chezp

Your dinner spot looked great, although the teaser for your next update doesn't sound good.

It ends up being all right

Originally Posted by MayraLR

Dinner looks so delicious!!
Your next installment doesn't sound too great.

It was good eats!

Originally Posted by stardust190

Sounds like a good start to the trip. I love the pictures of Seattle. We actually have friends who just moved to Seattle as they took a job with Sound Transit. It is how I'm planning to convince my DH that we need to take a cruise to Hawaii or Alaska. We need to go out there anyways to visit our friends.

We were very impressed with Sound Transit for sure.

Originally Posted by lauriep

Looks like a great meal! It's always so hard to decide what to choose at those markets. The pepper creations are gorgeous. I'd have wanted one, too. Those streets are WAY steeper than San Francisco, right? I had a terrible time with the scooter on those!

I know you must have had a hard time as we struggled walking!

Originally Posted by Pris

I love Pike's Place Market! Didn't you just love the smell as you wandered through the flowers? I don't like the sounds of that next "hiccup"!

Oh yes! I needed another day to spend there

Originally Posted by xwewhisper

Oh no your teaser has me a little nervous, a hiccup is never fun at 4:30am

Nope it wasn't!

Originally Posted by mcc0313

I was so excited to see the start of your TR Angela. I am so looking forward to hearing all about your trip. I love your rainbow bridge photo.....just beautiful.

Crazy travel day but isn't that always the way. Love the pictures of the market (that would have been my choice too....I can walk through markets for hours).

Right! Isn't the saying, "It's not the destination but the journey."?

Originally Posted by benchley

Oh crumbs. What was plan c at 4.30am?

Okay, I'm totally borrowing that saying, luv it!

Originally Posted by pamcarey

Your lunch looks and sounds wonderful! Your next update doesn't sound too good, though .

Coming right up!

[goofyboysmama]

Monday 9/7 - Amtrak Cascades

First, I just wanted to say this ended up being a wonderful day, and we had a beautiful journey to Vancouver. That being said, we had a pretty rocky start...

3:50am... Because we had gotten everything pretty much ready before bed, the four of us were able to get up and dressed in 35 minutes flat. We checked the room and knocked on the ladies' room across the hallway. They were used to getting up before the crack of dawn, so they were ready to go to. We all headed to the lobby to wait for the van driver. He was there right on time, and at 5am we left Renton, Washington. He drove us in the dark to the Tukwila Intl Blvd station and we thanked him appropriately.

It's about 5:15am and we're on time. I think it's a miracle really knowing all of us. We go to the kiosk to buy tickets and then we hear the famous record scratch... A security guard walks by and tells us that it's a holiday - the trains will be running on the weekend schedule. What? It's LABOR DAY. All this time we've been planning this trip we knew that we'd be traveling on Labor Day, but we just sort of forgot about it. So now what? The first train wouldn't come until 6:23, too late for us. We had to check in one hour prior to the departure time of 7:45 because we were crossing the border. Ok, we'll have to take a taxi. Alrighty then, Dh and I jump on our phones and start googling taxis. It would've been a lot easier if we were back at the Sea-Tac Airport because apparently, that's about the only place where they were at that time of morning. We called around, but either they couldn't accommodate the 6 of us with luggage, or they even didn't answer the phone. After a few minutes, we got someone to understand that we needed to transport a large party with luggage. The service would send two taxis and we'd have to split up. That wouldn't be a problem, but it was now about 5:25 and I was worried that we'd be eating into the cushion that I built into our travel time.

Thankfully, the taxis arrive in a few minutes and we split the group in half - me with the kids, Dh with the ladies. How they managed to stuff us all into two Toyota Priuses is beyond me, but off we went. I had no idea what it would cost us, but I was just hoping we wouldn't be taken around the mulberry bush instead of a straight shot to King Street in Seattle. My first photo is time stamped at 5:48, so we did great with the time. (Zero traffic.) Total cab fare was $35 and $38 without tip, so I think that's okay. The other driver ended up taking the other car to the upper level of the Amtrak station, our driver dropped us off at the lower level. There was some confusion, i.e. "Where are you?" "I'm right here." "Where is that?" "I'm right here at looking at the Amtrak sign, where are you?" "Who's on first?" etc. We finally figured out that they were upstairs and we were downstairs but since the station wasn't open until 6am, they couldn't come down to the check in area. There were three or four other people there, but it was still dark and we were outside in a "big city", so I really wanted it to be 6am in a hurry. (It was obvious we were tourists with all of our bags and whatnot.) I snapped a few pics of Seattle "at night" while we waited.







A few minutes after 6am, the doors were unlocked and we were let in. We were a little unsure of where to go, so we sort of just milled around near the ticket area. (There was a sign for luggage check in was downstairs, so it was a bit confusing.) While we were standing there we met a couple who were obviously going to Vancouver and would be on the same cruise as us - they were wearing cool aloha Disney shirts They were Charles and Cindy from the FB group that I belonged to. It was super cool to meet someone from the internet "irl" (in real life) for the first time. The ticket window opened up soon and it was the first time of many that we'd have to show our passports that day. I presented our single piece of paper that had all of us on it and the agent gave us our tickets for our luggage. Whew! It was nice to get rid of those!
During my research for the Amtrak Cascades, I had read that getting in line early for seating was important because the best seats were "west facing" and first come, first served. I wanted those seats because they faced the water during the 4 hour trip. I wasn't sure what the east facing seats looked like, but I wanted to follow the advice of the reviews I had read. The desks for the seat assignments had two sides, business class and coach, so we got in line for coach. There were already 2 people ahead of us with their bags holding their places, so we followed suit. I'm glad we go there early as the line filled in quickly and we had a nice place to sit while waiting. It was still early, so we got comfy and had some snacks for breakfast. Here are some pics of the beautiful station:















Finally, it was time for our seat assignments where we presented our passports again. We were given seats 25-34, which the conductor assured were west facing (yay!). They allowed the business class to board first, then let us board around 7:15.


Heading to the second car.




There's all the luggage.


Nice digs! We had a table with seats that faced each other. There were sockets on the baseboard under the table, convenient for charging devices. Checking out the wi-fi...


Snapping a pic with Charles. Martha was a little weirded out at first by him because he was so friendly. He gave us a lot of good information about things. She didn't know that we were FB friends and sort of knew each other already

We left on time and I waited until we left the city to take some photos. I took a ridiculous amount, but I'll only post a few here. ( I was so grateful for the seats!)









You can see some birds taking off from the beach

There was a dining car, but I let everyone else go down while I took some notes. (Ahhh the early days in the trip, when I kept accurate written notes...) It took them a while to come back and when it was my turn, I found out why. The line was long, yes, but it's very slow going on a moving train. I mean there some real rocking and rolling going on! You have to walk slowly with a kind of cowboy gait to keep your balance. Add trying to hold on to your food at the same time, and it gets very intricate. The dining car had a pretty good menu and it wasn't too expensive if I recall correctly. (The menu is on the website.) I got the "cheese platter" and some very good coffee.


I love eating local foods

More scenery:





from an east facing window












At this point (around 10:30) we were about 2 miles from the Canadian border when there was a track delay. After about 20 minutes, we continued on.




Wow! Look how far the tide goes out. It looks like folks come out here and maybe dig for clams or have a picnic, neat.






I wonder if this is a bog, like in Ireland...


Almost there!

Even with the 30 minute delay, we got to Vancouver, BC in good time. It was a great trip. Even though I don't think the kids were as impressed with traveling by train as I am, I know they'll always remember "the time we took a four hour trip to Canada on the train".

Next: Hello/Goodbye Vancover, Aloha Disney Wonder!

[pamcarey]

Oh my goodness, I would have freaked out about the train being on a Saturday schedule! Good thing you stayed calm and figured out what to do! Great scenery from the train!