New York City, Characters in the Wild, and Canadians - Eh!

It’s time for another cruise trip report! I just finished my Disneyland trip report, and finally had time to work on this report! It was a great trip where we met some new friends, saw characters galore and some beautiful sights! Here’s a sneak peak of our view on the last morning:

And here’s my plug of the trip report! I’m going to plug the Unofficial Wdwmagic Girls Cruise! If you haven’t heard, we are planning a 4 night Bahamian Disney cruise on September 8, 2013. There are already almost 30 us signed up! We are going to have so much fun! If you've wanted to try cruising, or wanted to meet some of your Wdwmagic friends - here's your chance! It's not too late!

What:

A five night Canadian cruise on the Disney Magic.

A military rate for the New York to Canada cruises came out, it was too good to pass up! Not to mention we didn’t have to fly anywhere!

We live in DC right now and New York is a quick bus/train ride/drive away.

Who:

Adults only this time!

We decided against taking the kids for this one since school just started and DS is a senior (sniff), so we asked several friends. It was pretty last minute, but one other couple from church could get away so there were four of us.

Here we are - Dh (Stephen), Myself, Steve “Buddha” and Misty –

We had a Steve and a Stephen. Luckily the other Steve has gone by his old call sign from his military days for years. Yes, we call him Buddha.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I really love this picture! The 6 deck chairs grouped together look like they could be a small group of friends out there. Aaaaand, looks like a refinery on the horizon out there. Or at least it reminds me of what the landscape is here...refineries everywhere. LOL!

Lovin' the update! Looks like such a relaxing voyage. The muscle shirt & sweats guy in the dining room sounded like a bit much to me, too. What the heck? The singing/dancing/heckling lady sounded even worse. Oh my. Glad she was handled so eloquently. I suppose it takes all kinds, huh?

Oooooh...Princii in the wild! Yes, we encountered Belle in her blue day dress in the wild during our trip. I geeked out...not because of the expressions of little girls who might happen along as much as I got to meet a princess without waiting in a line that runs half the length of the ship. LOL! The princess events in the atrium look amazing...but chaotic! I won't even get near that cluster! Eek! Oh but how I'd love to meet Tiana again. Wouldn't it be awesome if they did a meet with Tiana and Lottie in their day dresses?!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

loving the trip report so far, tammy! i always think of cruises assocaited with warm destinations but your report has me contemplating a cruise up north. as always your pictures are gorgeous. i agree, that you can never have too many pictures of the funnel. its just so photogenic! can't wait to read more!

 

[plaz10]

I absolutely laughed out loud at your picture of the room service followed by "Silly Stephen..." and "He was reprimanded." Totally something I would have done! On our Disney trip (which I suppose I must start my TR for now that my photopass CD has arrived...) I would tell Bill - "Put it back!" or "Make it look nice since you took a bite from it!"

And the picture of the open sea with the sun that was not photoshopped? It is now the background on my office computer. Thanks dear. I'm literally dreaming of the Dream in LESS THAN 1 YEAR! Can't wait!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

I really love this picture! The 6 deck chairs grouped together look like they could be a small group of friends out there. Aaaaand, looks like a refinery on the horizon out there. Or at least it reminds me of what the landscape is here...refineries everywhere. LOL!

Lovin' the update! Looks like such a relaxing voyage. The muscle shirt & sweats guy in the dining room sounded like a bit much to me, too. What the heck? The singing/dancing/heckling lady sounded even worse. Oh my. Glad she was handled so eloquently. I suppose it takes all kinds, huh?

Oooooh...Princii in the wild! Yes, we encountered Belle in her blue day dress in the wild during our trip. I geeked out...not because of the expressions of little girls who might happen along as much as I got to meet a princess without waiting in a line that runs half the length of the ship. LOL! The princess events in the atrium look amazing...but chaotic! I won't even get near that cluster! Eek! Oh but how I'd love to meet Tiana again. Wouldn't it be awesome if they did a meet with Tiana and Lottie in their day dresses?!

That is so true. I can just imagine them all sitting together and relaxing.

A bit much yes! And she was something. It does take all kinds.

Although I prefer them in the wild, the meet is actually very smooth. We did it later this week! The downside is the line gets so long! Luckily they do it a couple of times on longer cruises, so that helps.

That would be awesome in their day dresses.

loving the trip report so far, tammy! i always think of cruises assocaited with warm destinations but your report has me contemplating a cruise up north. as always your pictures are gorgeous. i agree, that you can never have too many pictures of the funnel. its just so photogenic! can't wait to read more!

Thank you, Ashley! I used to only think of cruises in warm climates, but Alaska opened my eyes to other possibilities.

I. Love. The. Funnel.

There, I said it.

I absolutely laughed out loud at your picture of the room service followed by "Silly Stephen..." and "He was reprimanded." Totally something I would have done! On our Disney trip (which I suppose I must start my TR for now that my photopass CD has arrived...) I would tell Bill - "Put it back!" or "Make it look nice since you took a bite from it!"

And the picture of the open sea with the sun that was not photoshopped? It is now the background on my office computer. Thanks dear. I'm literally dreaming of the Dream in LESS THAN 1 YEAR! Can't wait!

Haha! Do they not know us at all?

Yay! I'll have to look for your report!

Everything is run through photoshop, but I didn't mess with the colors! That's how it looked.

I can't wait either!!

 

[ZipaDeeDooDad]

I've been lurking on the boards here for years and never comment but I have to comment on your photography. First, I just read your disneyland report and laughed at the pop up flash incident, should have bought the Nikon D800 (just kidding I'm a lifelong Nikon guy). Second, no matter how nice your camera equipment is it is the person behind the camera that makes the difference. You definitely have the skills that make the difference, your photos are top notch. Keep em coming.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

I've been lurking on the boards here for years and never comment but I have to comment on your photography. First, I just read your disneyland report and laughed at the pop up flash incident, should have bought the Nikon D800 (just kidding I'm a lifelong Nikon guy). Second, no matter how nice your camera equipment is it is the person behind the camera that makes the difference. You definitely have the skills that make the difference, your photos are top notch. Keep em coming.

Haha! That's so funny that you said that about the Nikon! I was just on a photography board where a Canon user went on and on about how ridiculous it is that Nikon put a flash on theirs and Canon didn't.

And thank you so much, ZipaDeeDooDad! That is so nice of you to say.

 

[joanna71985]

How do you get such clear pictures in the atrium? Mine came out all dark

 

[Disneyfalcon]

How do you get such clear pictures in the atrium? Mine came out all dark

Good camera, fast lens, and knowing the settings. Get to know your camera!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Saturday, September 15th – Halifax

It’s the day you’ve all been waiting for – our own private tour of Halifax from a Wdwmagic member!

We woke up to a gorgeous sunny day! Yay! We weren’t docking until 10:30 today, so we had lots of time.

When we got close to the land we saw some fog and worried, but we got out of it quickly.

We thought we saw the lighthouse we were going to today, but now that I have seen the lighthouse and can zoom in to my pictures, I realized we didn’t.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

We had big plans today! Angie, aka angandtrev, who lives in Halifax was going to be our personal tour guide for the day! Yay! It was sooooooo nice of her! And so lucky for us!

Stephen went running after we woke up and I logged on to the internet as quickly as possible since it costs about $30 a minute. Not really, but close.

And speaking of money, we remembered to leave our room with money today! I can’t tell you how many times we had to borrow money from Buddha and Misty on this trip! When we paid for the taxi in NYC, my money was packed in my bag in the back. When we got of the ship in Saint John, we didn’t have any money to tip our tour guide, and there was one other thing that’s escaping me. We had to run a tab with our friends, lol! We are pitiful.

So, fair warning, if you go on a trip with the Whitings, they will mooch off of you. The good news is they will settle up, but there may be some mooching before that.

We got ready and went up to breakfast at Topsiders. We knew we would be out for a while today, and I wanted something more substantial than the continental type breakfast offerings from room service. I don’t usually eat breakfast at home, unless you count cookies , so whenever we cruise, I get to indulge one of my favorite foods – breakfast potatoes!! Sadly, Disney was slacking off this trip! Both times we went to Topsiders for breakfast, they only had hash browns!

Sadness.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

After eating, we walked around and took some pictures.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Stephen never knows if I’m metering or actually taking a picture. Surprise!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Pirate night was tonight so they were getting set up.

We met up with Buddha and Misty around 10:15 and disembarked.

Angie said she would be waiting for us further down by the dock, so we made our way there.

Look how cute! Theodore Tugboat!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Angie’s husband Trevor and son Oliver were there too! Oliver was absolutely and completely adorable.

I took this right before we saw Angie and I caught them in one of my Tugboat pictures! If I had realized this was them I would have framed them in the picture a little better:

We all chatted for a few minutes, and then said goodbye to Trevor and Oliver before piling in Angie’s car.

Angie took us to Peggys Cove first, where the lighthouse is apparently the most photographed lighthouse in North America. She told us we were very lucky, because most days it was foggy out there.

Look at the beautiful little town:

 

[Disneyfalcon]

We had a beautiful sunny day! It seriously couldn’t have been nicer.

See why so many people take pictures? Can someone ask all those people to move out of my picture?

Lighthouse Toes!

Here we are again!

Angie and I:

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Misty and Buddha:

Bagpiper:

Back through town:

 

[Disneyfalcon]

William deGarth sculpted this as a lasting monument to Nova Scotia fisherman:

Angie drove us to a memorial to a Swissair flight that crashed there in 1988. It was beautiful and on a tiny road. The tour busses weren’t getting out there! But we were! You can see the tiny lighthouse where we just were at the top of the horizon.

After that we decided to stop for lunch at a local place! How fun!

Buddha, Misty and Angie:

Fish and chips! Woo hoo! It was as good as it looks!

Stephen had clam chowder:

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Angie was so easy to talk to. She told us some awesome stories and kept us fascinated all day. Seriously, if you’re ever in Halifax, I highly recommend her tour services.

After we drove back into town, we parked near the Citadel and walked up the hill. It was a gorgeous view, and I was huffing when we got to the top!

When we got to the bottom, we were going to go our separate ways so Angie could go back home to her family and we could make our way back to the ship, but I realized I left my camera bag in her car! Shoot!

So Buddha and Misty left with directions to an ice cream shop on the way to the ship, and Stephen and I walked with Angie back to her car. She went out of her way for us again and drove us down to the water afterward. Seriously! She was too nice!

We said goodbye to Angie and hoped we will see each other again! Girls cruise, Angie? I’ve got room in my stateroom!!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Angie had told us about a wonderful ice cream shop named Cow’s, and we made our way there after we left.

There it is!

There was a line out the door but it was worth it. Apparently Reader’s Digest named it the best ice cream in Canada, and a travel magazine that named it the best in the world! You don’t have to ask us twice!

Stephen waited in line while I took some pictures around Cows:

I got some chocolate cheesecake confection. It was delicious!!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

We walked back through the dock area towards the ship. We were actually cutting it kind of close! I’ve never been back to the ship within a couple of hours of leaving time, and this time we were back only about 20 minutes before we left. We were living on the edge!

Theodore was still out and about:

This was a giant whale tale. The sign is apparently one of those signs that either doesn't mean what it says, or doesn't apply to some people:

Oh, Canada…

I assume these were apartments right on the water. I would love to live there!

See the reflection?

Up next - back on board, Palo and Pirate Night! Thanks for the great day Halifax, but mostly Angie!