We just got home from the May 24 sailing. (Let me just state now - I HATE unpacking!
)
Our Excursions:
Skagway: Liarsville with characters
Fun. If you're looking for Broadway or even Disney Stage-quality performances, you're going to be disappointed. But if you're looking for folksy fun, it's great. Think Renn fest/old west shootout type entertainment and setting, rather than Broadway.
We met in the Walt Disney Theatre and, once all gathered, followed the Simba sign out to our buses. Our particular driver just happened to be from our home state, so we had great fun chatting. We were given a few tidbits of info on Skagway on our way out to Liarsville - very short drive. Once off the bus, they invited us into a covered seating area with a stage in front. They then presented a cute puppet show about a gold miner and his husky, complete with audience participation. Some will call it hokey, others folksy. The kids really seemed to enjoy it. (Our Dd is 16, and she was smiling the entire time.) Then a younger woman explained the gold panning process to us. She was hysterical! No one takes themselves too seriously. But before you can gold pan, you do a "scavenger hunt". Definitly geared toward the younger set, but a way to guarantee you saw all the little areas of the camp. (It all fits in about a square city block of space). Once done, you're handed a small, rusty gold pan with about a cup or so of dirt and rock in it. You're guaranteed "to find 2-5 flakes" of gold in your pan. Each of us found either 4 or 5. The panning area has raised troughs, so you don't have to squat or bend down to a stream. There's a very pretty waterfall right next to camp. Goofy, Chip and Dale visited during this time.
After panning, there were marshmellows to roast over the fire. I think this was the actual thing that my DD chose the excursion for.
Not a ton of space for the number of people roasting, but OK. Then came the salmon bake. YUMMMMMMMMMM!!! If you do this, DON'T MISS THE BEANS! I'm not a fan of beans, but these were wonderful. And several people that I spoke to afterwards on the ship also mentioned the beans. All of it was good. The salmon and the sweet sauce they poured on it was wonderful, also. I had seconds of the salmon and beans. None of it was bad, although the "wild blueberry cake" was basically a white cake with a small amount of blueberries scattered on the top. They did run out of lemonade, which was disappointing. We then toured the gift shop, which was not badly priced for the setting. Then back on the bus and back to the ship. Our driver told us that if we wanted, we could stay on the bus and he would drop us off in the middle of town, which we took advantage of.
Juneau - Tramway - If I were to take this cruise again (and only finances prevent it!), I would NOT buy this through Disney. You never know how foggy it's going to be, and all the locals say not to do it if you can't see the top station from the ground. Because we had purchased them ahead of time, we felt we had to use them. It did clear just enough for us to see the ground at times. It was truly beautiful up there, but most of the hiking trails were still closed due to snow and mud. This is not the hike for those will a healthy fear of heights!
The raptor center here had one eagle to get a close up look at. One thing to realize about the raptor center here and in Ketchikan. They are all VOLUNTEER organizations. Don't expect fancy settings or slick presentations. Now, the gift shop at the top of the tramway was one of my favorite gift shops on the entire trip. With all the fog, it made the trip worth it. Oh, and DON'T go hungry! Whatever they were serving in the restaurant there smelled heavenly!
Ketchikan - DH and DD did the
Mount Point Snorkling. They really seemed to love it. They ARE wet suits, but DD says they warmed up pretty quickly. They saw all sorts of bottom dwellers, not too many fish. The guides often brought critters up from deeper areas. DD got to hold a sea cucumber, which she thought was really cool. They saw some jellyfish, too, most of which were harmless, but one, and lion's mane, they had be warned about and knew to stay away from. Though there wasn't much in the way of exposed skin for them to reach.
When they got back on board, the leaders had an ice chest full of warm water. They took a pitcher and poured a pitcherful inside each person's wetsuit, either down the front or back, whichever the person preferred. DD said it felt wonderful!
I did the
Rainforest Sanctuary, Eagles and Totems. The first thing said to us on the bus was that if we had any food whatsoever with us to eat it then. There be bears in those woods, and food, especially fruit, would draw them like Pooh to honey. Being a hypoglycemic, I almost always have food with me, so I ate my two bananas on the way to the sanctuary. After getting off the bus, the guides pointed out the port-a-potties and said that's the last bathroom available until the end. A noticable number of us took advantage of them.
We were split into 3 groups, and taken on the hike.
Hike is perhaps a misnomer. We would litterally walk maybe 10-20 feet and stop. The leader would point out a bear trail, a specific type of plant, or something of the sort. I found it facinating and beautiful. One of the zipline adventures is there, too, and you often caught a glimpse of people zipping along. I'm not in horrible shape, but I have some chronic illnesses, including fibromyalgia, that made me worry a tiny bit about the hike. It was no problem for me at all.
You end that part of the hike at the reindeer yard, feeding lettuce to very friendly reindeer. Needless to say, all the kids on the hike loved this. Reindeer don't have upper front teeth, so they can't really bite you. And these ladies weren't interested at all in your fingers. They wanted the lettuce!
and were very happy to pose for pics.
After the reindeer, you walk on the opposite side of a salmon stream from a salmon hatchery. We saw a mink raiding the hatchery, a young still-speckled eagle, and an adult bald eagle in the same area. Then we walked rather quickly through an old log mill.
After the mill, we went into the raptor center. Again, this is a VOLUNTEER organization. They had a bald eagle and a great horned owl, both too injured to release. The owl HATES Mickey Ears. No idea why, but they ask anyone wearing them to take them off. Got some fantastic close up shots of the owl.
After this, we were asked if anyone had severe hay fever. When no one owned up to having it, we entered into a small building where a gentleman was in the process of carving a totem pole out of a cedar log. It smelled heavenly! But I can see how someone with allergies could have a problem. The gentleman doing the carving was fun to talk to, and obviously loved both the carving and the interaction. We then ended (of course) in the gift shop, with coffee and hot chocolate waiting, and a salmon spread that was basically tuna salad made with salmon instead of tuna on ritz crackers, and yet very tasty. I also found Alaskan made Ulu knives here for the best price yet, $14.95. Then we boarded the bus and headed back to the ship. Again, we had the choice of staying on the bus and being dropped of in town if we wanted.
Hope you find this helpful. If you want to see pics, I'll have them up on facebook soon. Feel free to friend me (diannah robertson), just put something like Cruise or Disney in the friend request.
I just got off of the phone with Island Wings Tours and was able to book a tour for our cruise next week. They were so kind! They even tweaked our tour because I was nervous that we wouldn't make it back to the ship in time for the show. I told them someone had written some very positive information about them on the DIS boards and that's how I got their information. They said they really appreciated it since the Wonder is a new ship for them.
Thanks for sharing!
