Bon Voyage to Alaska on the Wonder – May 29 - DCL First-timers – Corks are meant to fly! COMPLETED

Thanks for sharing. How fun! Love your insights that you posted "after the cruise". We will certainly take advantage of "maps.me" next time we travel. When we were in Vancouver, we had to keep stopping and logging into our internet to figure out where we need to go. Ugh, more expense....
 
I loved reading your trip report, Laura! We just got back on Monday and I just started writing my trip report. We had the same dinner rotation as you, and even the same dog musher! :)

Thank you! Looking forward to hearing about your trip!

Thanks for sharing. How fun! Love your insights that you posted "after the cruise". We will certainly take advantage of "maps.me" next time we travel. When we were in Vancouver, we had to keep stopping and logging into our internet to figure out where we need to go. Ugh, more expense....

Maps.me was such a find and was sooooo useful! Thanks for reading.
 
Quick question: Did you get baked Alaska on the ship and how many kids were on your cruise. This will be our third cruise to alaska and the first with the kids. We want to share all the fun things we've experienced on our previous cruises.

Thanks again.
 


Quick question: Did you get baked Alaska on the ship and how many kids were on your cruise. This will be our third cruise to alaska and the first with the kids. We want to share all the fun things we've experienced on our previous cruises.

Thanks again.

Yes, baked Alaska was a dessert option one night, but it is not paraded around the dining room flaming like cruise ships did 30 years ago.

Lots of kids. More than I expected. Since we were an earlier cruise, it seemed most kids were from parts of FL, GA, TX and OK where schools had just let out for the year.

Have a great trip!
 
Thursday continued...

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Austin gave us the option of being dropped off in town or back at the ships. About half got off in town, but we went back to the ship to grab a late lunch in Cabanas.

We ran into Mom and Dad getting back off the ship as we were getting on. They too had come back for lunch and were on their way back into town to explore. We would catch up with them soon.

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After lunch, we gave the boys the option to walk back into town or to go to the kids clubs. They both chose the clubs and I let the CM know when I dropped them off that DH and I were leaving ship for a bit. The CM took my cell number just in case they needed to reach us, but they never did.

DH and I walked toward town. By now the clouds had cleared and the sun was out. I was wearing just my jeans and t-shirt and was comfortable. We stopped in the National Park visitor’s center and read a bit more on the gold rush and watched the film (free). We stopped in a few shops, but the goal was to get to Skagway Brewing Company.

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We ran into my parents here and luckily the two seats next to them at the bar were open. We all drank Chilkoot Trail IPA (which was good) and caught up on each other’s excursions for the day. The bartenders here were very friendly and answered questions we had about living in town, etc.

Drinking done, we headed back towards the ship perusing in a few shops. John purchased some fudge at the store next to Skagway Brewing Company, but I think that was the only purchase in Skagway besides the beer.

Back to the ship for Frozen night. Mom, DS9 and I watched the maypole ceremony in the atrium and enjoyed that. As we watched Pluto dropped by for a quick visit.

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After the maypole ceremony it was soon time for dinner and this was the Frozen menu night.

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I know not everyone is thrilled with this menu, but in my opinion there was plenty to choose from, even for us picky eaters. I also thought it was great to be back in AP for dinner here, as we got to enjoy Frozen scenery on the screens throughout the night.

Food pictures next...
I personally am thrilled reading that menu, as it has the most gluten-free offerings I've seen so far. My son is gf, and it's so much easier on the ships when there is an appealing main menu item that is already gluten free, so nothing has to be special made.
 
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oon we were on the ground and began the long walk through E concourse towards customs (FYI – we did not see bathrooms after we got off the plane until we got to customs, approx. 10 min walk. Those traveling with children understand this dilemma).

Yes! this was the worst last year! I am so used to getting off a plane and walking usually just a few yards to a bathroom. I had to pee so bad and it seemed like FOREVER before a bathroom came into sight when we got off the plane in Vancouver.
 
Thank you so much for posting this! We were on the same cruise, and I've been missing it so much lately. I needed that step back to Alaska this afternoon :)
 
Monday, May 29, 2017

Cruise day!! Yay!!

I was up by 5:15am or so as I was still adjusting to the new time zone. My mother and I had talked the night before that if we were up early we might try to walk down to the seawall to see the Wonder pull into port. Mom woke up a few minutes after me, just as I started to read my book. I was tired, but knew this opportunity may never come again, so we dressed quickly and headed out, hoping we had not missed her arrival yet.

We walked quickly as there were very few people out and about yet. As we approached Canada Place we could see the Wonder had not yet arrived yet. We waited patiently and at about 6:10am we saw her come under the Lions Gate Bridge (we went under the bridge at approximately the same time on our way back into port the following Monday as well).

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It was a very exciting thing to see the ship arrive, as I knew we would board a few short hours later. Mom and I watched as the captain turned and backed the ship into port and then watched as the dock workers and the crew on ship readied for disembarkation.

It was getting late and we had promised to bring donuts back for the boys for breakfast, so we headed back towards the condo, stopping at the Digital Orca and the Olympic Flame that were just around the corner.

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After arriving back at the condo, breakfast was served, the last load of laundry started and final packing completed. We were ready by 9:30am or so, but there was no need to rush out as our boarding time started at noon. The owner of the condo had offered the previous day to come get us at 11am and drive us down to the port. It was so generous of him and saved us the aggravation of rolling the suitcases 15 minutes on the busy city streets. We passed the time by playing a few games.

Right at 11am, Mom, DS9 and I went with the luggage on the first trip to the port. Arrival was simple as there were lots of workers directing us exactly where to go. Our host dropped us off and a porter whisked away our bags. Our host went back to get DH, DS6 and Dad and brought them back to the Pan Pacific entrance, where we went to meet them.

We looked around the port for a few minutes at the ship and then decided it was close enough to 12pm to get started with the check-in process.

I had read so many trip reports that I knew what to expect, but it was still a new process for us. Thankfully there were lots of cruise CMs in port to help point the way whenever we had a question.

The line for finalizing the kid’s club registration was pretty short as well, so we took care of that too.

My only disappointment was that we missed the cutoff to take pictures with Mickey prior to boarding. Apparently he had to get back to the ship to get ready to depart. Luckily we got a picture with him later in the week.

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Once onboard we knew we wanted to get lunch. It was around 12:45pm or so by this time. We tried to go to Triton’s but they were full, so we headed up to Cabanas. It was a little hectic up there, but we did get a window table for all 6 of us, and everyone had a nice lunch while we watched the seaplanes land and take-off.

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By the time we were done with lunch, it was 1:30pm and we could head to the rooms. My immediate family was in 5514 in a 9A Ocean View (1 large porthole) and my parents were across the hall in 5509 in an 11B.

No room pictures to share as you can see them elsewhere online, but both rooms were as described with everything in working order. The couches were not very comfy, but I assume they are the same throughout the ships. We used ours a few hours during the week for happy hour in the room while enjoying the view. Definitely not a deal breaker for me. DS6 loved sleeping in the top bunk too!

Here is what we did for our door decorations. I have to admit, I agonized over these a bit. It was something I could start planning right away after we booked the cruise and I would change my mid from time to time as the months went on. I am happy with the way they turned out. We were on a short hallway since level 5 doesn’t have a lot of rooms, so I am not sure they were seen by many, but they certainly helped us identify our room each day and they will be great souvenirs for us to hang on our refrigerator as a reminder of the trip.

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The boys saw the slide and pools as we left Cabanas after lunch and were itching to go. We had a bit of time before the lifeboat drill, so we dropped our carry-ons in the room and took the boys up to deck 9 to ride the slide and swim.

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The boys rode the slide twice I think and decided to go float in the pool and watch Princess and the Frog which was on funnel vision. The rest of just chilled at a table nearby enjoying the sunshine.

Once they closed the pools in preparation for the lifeboat drill, we took the kids back down to 5 to change back into their clothes. Two of our suitcases were outside our door, with the hope that the third would arrive soon.

At some point during the late afternoon, our stateroom host- Jervie- introduced himself to us and asked if we needed anything. We told him about our missing suitcase and he recommended we alert guest services. We wouldn’t see Jervie again for days, but he took very good care of us and always had our room serviced quickly after we left for breakfast and turned down for dinner.

It was lifeboat drill time and this is one of the things I was worried about for DS9. I had called Disney’s Cruise Line Special Services number prior to sailing to ask a few questions as DS9 does not like loud noises. I had read they could make special accommodations during the life boat drill, but decided after talking to the person on the line, that DS9 would be just fine as long as we brought his noise cancelling headphones. I was also told that if he had issues during the drill to just let the CM in charge know and he/she would allow one of the adults to accompany him away from the drill. We warned DS9 what was going to happen in advance. He kept his headphones on the whole time and thankfully there was no issue.

After the lifeboat drill we headed up to 10 to get a spot for the sail away party. I was excited for this after seeing pictures of it in others’ trip reports, but I was disappointed that it was more about watching the entertainment staff dance and not more about the characters. I stayed a few songs and then the ship began to move, so we started roaming to take pictures. The crowds up front as we approached the Lions Gate Bridge were insane. I recommend waking up early on the day you pull back into Vancouver (be up there around 5:45am) to take all the pictures you want going under the bridge with no one in your way.

We had time for a quick happy hour down in the room before heading off to our first dinner in Animator’s Palate. Thankfully our last suitcase showed up right before dinner as well.

Next is dinner....


Too funny but you were in the same room my in-laws will be in on our Sept 4th sailing! I can't wait to read more!
 

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