WONDER How Much Longer We Have To Wait? Alaska August 30th-September 6th, 2021

nearlyfallinstar

The line where the sky meets the sea? It calls me!
Joined
Feb 19, 2015
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We were booked for the August 31st, 2020 sailing to Alaska that was just recently cancelled. We rebooked (thank you 125% cruise credit) for August 30th, 2021 and now are waiting a full extra year for a trip we have been planning since 2017. Yet, there is always a silver lining and this extra time will allow us to spend a bit extra in areas we would not have cruising this year! To keep my excitement alive, or rekindled since the past few months have put a significant damper on my cruise planning spirits, I am going to work on my pre-trip report.I am currently 37 living in Ohio. I work at Wal-mart so not worrying about the Rona around here! If the plague was going to hang out anywhere other than hospitals and nursing homes, it would be in Wal-mart...Traveling with me is my 37 year old husband. He is an Equipment Service Technician for a car manufacturer and is thankfully back to work! We are also bringing our three girls who will be 12, 11, and 9 when we cruise. They have handled the change of plans fairly well! Very disappointed but still very excited for next year. The main reason we are cruising to Alaska (and not the Caribbean-I miss you beaches!) is for my dad. Dad is 72 this year and has always wanted to take an Alaskan cruise. So my mom is going along with the Alaska cruise as well. We really are beach people! lol. Mom is 65 and works at the BMV and no, she does not want to talk about what it has been like since reopening!
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Here is a list of things I plan to write about over the next year, if only for my own benefit:
  • Pan Pacific (thank you extra year)
  • Vancouver Excursions
  • Alaska Excursions
  • Breweries
  • Clothing (themes and practical)
  • Transportation
  • FE Plans (whether or not I go through with them)
  • Packing (myself and family)
  • And whatever else may come up!
I'm looking forward to sharing what I learn and what I have already planned for our never ending Alaskan cruise!
 

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So this is a bit off the wall, but if you always sleep with a fan you will get the importance of this information! I sleep with a fan ALL the time. Yes, it is white noise but I also need the air movement so sounds machines are out. I have always traveled with a portable battery operated fan that takes about a thousand D batteries. It has worked...okay. The noise is enough that I can sleep with it, but the air circulation has always left little to be desired. I have wanted to retire my old D battery fan for awhile, but have not found an acceptable replacement.

Last month our city had a planned power outage. They announced it several weeks beforehand that they were fixing something and they planned on cutting our power for about eight hours. So I upgraded my battery operated fan to this:
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It's a Ryobi 18V portable fan that runs on lithium batteries like you would use in power tools. This baby is freakin' fantastic. Ran on high power all night and put out as much air as my stand up osculating fan! LOVE it! It is definitely my new camping fan! Here is the rub. Would DCL allow this onboard? Sure it is battery powered. They say lithium batteries are permitted as long as they are in your carry on. I was pretty sure they were talking about the batteries that are in our cameras and cell phones though. The batteries also require charging, which requires electricity and cords. Power tools are prohibited, but this is a fan. I would have a hard time dismantling anything with this fan. After a google search (or six), I put my question out there on social media. I was looking to see if anyone had experience bringing one of these bad boys with them. Social media was a bust. There were a few fan sleepers like me trying to be helpful. There were plenty of suggestions for what else I could try to use. A few sarcastic people who obviously do not need a fan to sleep and one very smart person who posted a picture of an air compressor on my post and asked if DCL would allow it. Hahaha...you so clever! So I hung my head in shame and decided to contact DCL directly. I didn't want to call because they have enough to deal with and my fan questions are just not that important. I chose to shoot them an email, but it wouldn't go through. I about gave up until I saw the "Chat Now" feature hanging out on the right side of the screen. So I talked to a representative! This was the outcome:

From a DCL representative:
We are not able to open outside links to check on that specific item for you, I do apologize. As long as the fan it portable and battery-powered you would be able to bring it onboard without it needing to be inspected by the Chief Electrician onboard.

Danielle at 15:53, Jun 10:
It has batteries like you use in power tools. Stem pack lithium rechargeable batteries.

Shep at 15:55, Jun 10:
We do not have a restriction in place for that type of battery being brought onboard. A full list of prohibited items can be found at the link below.

Danielle at 15:55, Jun 10:
Okay! I will give it a go and see what happens! Thank you for your time.  

Shep at 15:55, Jun 10:
My pleasure!
Shep at 15:55, Jun 10:
Is there anything else I can assist you with today?

Danielle at 15:56, Jun 10:
That should be it. Thank you again!

:thumbsup2
So there you go! They are not prohibited and I am going to try to take my Ryobi with me on my next cruise. If it gets confiscated, I'll (eventually) let you know!
 
it! It is definitely my new camping fan! Here is the rub. Would DCL allow this onboard? Sure it is battery powered. They say lithium batteries are permitted as long as they are in your carry on. I was pretty sure they were talking about the batteries that are in our cameras and cell phones though. The batteries also require charging, which requires electricity and cords. Power tools a

The lithium batteries in carryon is a safety requirement and is any kind of lithium battery, it isn't just camera and cell phone batteries.

There have been issues with some lithium batteries catching fire - and there have been some airplane crashes that have resulted. As a result, the government and airlines have some very strict rules regarding lithium batteries. If you are flying you will need to look into those. For example, they have limits on the max weight and power.

See https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/more_info/?hazmat=7 and https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=23054 and https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security...g/items/lithium-batteries-more-100-watt-hours

DCL has some info about batteries on their website:

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faq/health-safety/batteries/
SW
 
The lithium batteries in carryon is a safety requirement and is any kind of lithium battery, it isn't just camera and cell phone batteries.

There have been issues with some lithium batteries catching fire - and there have been some airplane crashes that have resulted. As a result, the government and airlines have some very strict rules regarding lithium batteries. If you are flying you will need to look into those. For example, they have limits on the max weight and power.

See https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/more_info/?hazmat=7 and https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=23054 and https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security...g/items/lithium-batteries-more-100-watt-hours

DCL has some info about batteries on their website:

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faq/health-safety/batteries/
SW
The airplane requirements were actually very easy to find since others travel with power tools and have talked about the requirements. So I can fly with the batteries in my carry on and have them placed in separate baggies so they won't come in contact with one another. Since power tools are not permitted on the cruise, it was harder to find information about these particular batteries. I actually knew I could fly with this fan a long while ago when I was first researching if I wanted to get one. Thank you traveling workers of America! :thanks:
 


PAN PACIFIC VANCOUVER
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Ever since I started researching for this cruise way back in 2017, I have wanted my pre-cruise stay to be at the Pan Pacific. I always like to stay close to port normally and the idea that I could just walk downstairs to board the ship was extremely appealing. I read story after story of people enjoying their stay and watching the Wonder pull into port the morning of their cruise. I definitely wanted to be there to see that. Unfortunately, when booking a hotel to stay at when we were supposed to sail in 2020, the price was astronomical and I just could not commit to spending that much. I picked a hotel that was half of the cost of the Pan Pacific near the airport. I wasn't excited about staying there, but it would be a place to sleep and it was close to Costco (wine run!). I had heard that Pan Pacific's prices could be more reasonable the closer you get to your cruise date, so I would periodically check to see if the prices had come down any. If they had become low enough, I would have cancelled my cheap airport hotel and booked with the Pan in a heartbeat. My mom was indifferent to moving to the pricier hotel, so the cost was going to have to come way down. Then they cancelled our cruise. There are very few reasons that I am happy that our original cruise was cancelled and being able to book the Pan Pacific for a reasonable cost and with an extra year to pay for it is a big reason! I didn't book the harbour view room, but I will check prices as we get closer in case I can snag a better deal. For now, I am very excited to know that I can go up to the pool deck the morning of our cruise and watch the Wonder come in! The heated roof top pool was a big selling point for my husband and my girls.
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I was also happy to learn that there is an underground tunnel (or some such) that leads across the road to a food court with low cost options for breakfast and lunch. I fully plan on enjoying at least one dinner in the fancier options that are in the hotel! Having some easily accessible food options for the other meals will really help with the cost of feeding the five of us until we board the ship.

I'm also looking forward to being so close to Stanley park and, in the other direction, Gastown. Those were two of the main things I was hoping to visit while in Vancouver. This will save us a lot of skytrain travel! I've heard that the skytrain is very easy to use, but walking is always easier when you have to herd kids and your father...Now I should only be using the skytrain to get from the airport to the Pan Pacific and back. And if I chicken out on the public transportation, two taxi rides are not a big pill to swallow.

Thank you extra year of planning for making the Pan Pacific stay a guarantee!
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Just a note about Costco from the Disney cruiseline blog in 2019:
A bonus, and unofficial amenity of the Abercorn Inn is Costco, which is directly across the street. I mentioned this in our trip report, but it is worth repeating. If you are planning a trip to Costco, let it be known that Costco (at least the Richmond location) does not take US Visa Debit cards, only MasterCard & the Costco credit card. Additionally, they do not sell wine, but they did have a nice selection of clothing for wearing in the ports and poutine at the food court.
 
Just a note about Costco from the Disney cruiseline blog in 2019:
A bonus, and unofficial amenity of the Abercorn Inn is Costco, which is directly across the street. I mentioned this in our trip report, but it is worth repeating. If you are planning a trip to Costco, let it be known that Costco (at least the Richmond location) does not take US Visa Debit cards, only MasterCard & the Costco credit card. Additionally, they do not sell wine, but they did have a nice selection of clothing for wearing in the ports and poutine at the food court.
I guess it is a good thing that I'm not staying at that hotel and planning a trip to Costco! lol! Now that we're staying at the Pan Pacific I was going to research some places close to the port to get alcohol. I would have been irritated that they don't have wine. Never even considered that since all of our local stores have it. :confused3
 


I guess it is a good thing that I'm not staying at that hotel and planning a trip to Costco! lol! Now that we're staying at the Pan Pacific I was going to research some places close to the port to get alcohol. I would have been irritated that they don't have wine. Never even considered that since all of our local stores have it. :confused3

YOu may want to confirm from another source that this is still current info, but see: https://bcpassport.com/vancouver-information/vancouver-vital-information/alcohol-in-vancouver/
 
Thank you extra year of planning for making the Pan Pacific stay a guarantee!

We're also planning what we hope is a "third times the charm" Alaskan cruise! We pushed from 2020 to 2021 before the official cancelation, mostly to have a bigger/better cruise. Now we just rebooked 2021, which wasn't canceled yet, but I think will be to 2022. The majority of my extended family is in the Vancouver area so visiting them and seeing the sites in Vancouver was a big part of the trip for us. I love the location of the Pan Pacific, but double beds kill me! (Especially at those prices!) But I'm a sucker for convenience so...

ETA: I did compare Pan Pacific and the Fairmont across the street and Pan Pacific (at least for this year as August wasn't available for next year on Pan Pacific site) was better priced than the Fairmont.
 
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