You’ll never get me on a cruise. Unless it’s to ALASKA! Recap and New PTR Link! 2/1

[eandesmom]

Any help greatly appreciated!

Sadly Del is not in our price range, so want to stay there though.

Was thinking of maybe near Stanley Park for Vancouver but nothing is decided yet.

There really isn't anything "near" Stanley park as far as I know, but the Robson area and even the waterfront aren't horribly far and the public transportation options (and cabs) are pretty good.

For San Diego, check out Glorietta Bay Inn we had a lovely 4 night long weekend there a couple of years ago. I have pictures if you'd like. It is across the street from the Del. The prices at the Del are insane.

In Seattle, my favorites (in price order lol)are

The Alexis
The Monaco
The Edgewater
Inn at the Market

We were just at the Alexis before Christmas for an anniversary getaway and got an amazing upgrade, it was just wonderful all around. I have pictures of our EMP corner suite, it was crazy! The first 2 are Kimpton Hotels and if you sign up for the membership with the chain, you'll get extra treats like possible upgrades!


I've heard great things about the arctic room but haven't stayed there myself.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

We had zero issues with power but I know a ton of people that lost it, some that got it back today and some are still out. The ice on Thursday really did a lot of folks in. I did telecommute about half of the week. The kids all had monday off anyway for MLK day. On Tuesday they called a 2 hour delay and then literally at the time they should be getting on the bus, cancelled school. It was really annoying, they should have called it at least an hour earlier than they did. They did miss the entire week. Luckily for us they only end up with one extra day at the end of the year so as long as there are no more snow days it isn't a huge impact.

What's this about having to make up days because of snow, I've never heard of that before. I know in Toronto if we missed school because of snow the conditions had to be really bad and even then they didn't add days to the school year. Although the last time we had snow days where schools got closed here was in 1999, when are mayor called in the army by accident.

 

[eandesmom]

What's this about having to make up days because of snow, I've never heard of that before. I know in Toronto if we missed school because of snow the conditions had to be really bad and even then they didn't add days to the school year. Although the last time we had snow days where schools got closed here was in 1999, when are mayor called in the army by accident.

LOL! It doesn't snow that much here and as a result, between lots of hills, a climate that produces wicked black ice, only so many snowplows, the fact that we only sand (salt is very bad for the watershed aka salmon) and the high winds knocking down trees and taking out lots of power lines, the area can get rather paralyzed when we have a major storm.

It is usually the ice, or power outage that causes school closures, the buses simply can't make it over the hills and schools can't be open without power

As a result, pretty much the entire area was closed school wise for all of last week. Monday was a holiday anyway. They have make up day plans to accommodate that. In the E's school district it means no more in service days for the rest of the year for the teachers, plus one more day at the end. If we end up with any more snow days, it will go later than that. Right now we are at 6/25. K's school has a different policy so I have to check what happened with her days but it's likely about the same. One year we went almost until the 4th of July! We had something crazy like almost 2 full weeks of snow days and a lot of it was power outages.

Some homes are still without power and there was definitely still some black ice this morning which caught folks off guard thinking most of the melting was done.

It's funny though, I lived in Chicago for 10 years and there...no black ice, it's flat and they plow and salt the heck out of everything. I don't ever recall school being closed!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

LOL! He was working from home all week but with the internet down, he couldn't so had to go somewhere that did have it. This was on Thursday which was probably the worst road day and his car just isn't equipped for it so I dropped him off at a cool location that is a bookstore/food court/coffee shop as it gave him more options than being stuck at Starbucks all day. If he doesn't go in early to the office, he has to park a bazillion miles away so it can be far more efficient for him to telecommute.

Jeff actually working AT a coffee shop? I would pity anyone trying to get a coffee. He would never have the patience for it. He was there for a good 7 hours though, bleh. Thankfully when we got home it was back on and we never lost power.

It rained a lot here and has melted most of it but there is a fiar amount of standing water. On Friday I swear there was 3 inches int he parking lot at work, ick. Raining now.

I'm ready for the sun too....though I don't see any in my near future.

YAY for Hawaii! Poor Jim, having to work though

I didn't think Jeff was EMPLOYED at a coffee shop!

I meant trying to get work done with the small tables, distractions, etc.

Sounds like you hooked him up with a better location

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Beautiful sunset pics! One thing about those - once you start snapping, you can't stop because each moment is better than the last.

Nice relaxed shots of Jeff, too - wonderful background scenery!

So how does Jeff feel about cruising now - would he do another itinerary?

 

[Chilly]

There really isn't anything "near" Stanley park as far as I know, but the Robson area and even the waterfront aren't horribly far and the public transportation options (and cabs) are pretty good.

For San Diego, check out Glorietta Bay Inn we had a lovely 4 night long weekend there a couple of years ago. I have pictures if you'd like. It is across the street from the Del. The prices at the Del are insane.

In Seattle, my favorites (in price order lol)are

The Alexis
The Monaco
The Edgewater
Inn at the Market

We were just at the Alexis before Christmas for an anniversary getaway and got an amazing upgrade, it was just wonderful all around. I have pictures of our EMP corner suite, it was crazy! The first 2 are Kimpton Hotels and if you sign up for the membership with the chain, you'll get extra treats like possible upgrades!


I've heard great things about the arctic room but haven't stayed there myself.

Thanks for that! Will look them all up.

Quick question on the cruise, could you let me know what the dining rotation was and which night was pirate night? Thanks so much.

 

[eandesmom]

I didn't think Jeff was EMPLOYED at a coffee shop!

I meant trying to get work done with the small tables, distractions, etc.

Sounds like you hooked him up with a better location

yeah, although the bathroom at that location is forever away so he had to pack up the laptop etc every time he had to go.

Beautiful sunset pics! One thing about those - once you start snapping, you can't stop because each moment is better than the last.

Nice relaxed shots of Jeff, too - wonderful background scenery!

So how does Jeff feel about cruising now - would he do another itinerary?

He will, to a point. He is only interested in DCL cruises, wiht a verandah, and has to spread it out and then it's only if it's an itinerary he is interested in (which limits it quite a bit). He loved Alaska and was very happy with the cruise itself as well. To be honest, the one we are booked on in August is not our first choice of itinerary by a long shot but it IS the only one that works to get Kendall on with us and we'd love for her to be able to to it so...

We would both love to do the Med next summer but it is very possible there will be a large family WDW trip that same year and no way we can do both.

You are so right on the sunset picture snapping!

Thanks for that! Will look them all up.

Quick question on the cruise, could you let me know what the dining rotation was and which night was pirate night? Thanks so much.

I'm not sure the nights will be the same as the route is a little different.

Ours was like this

Vancouver
At Sea (formal night)
Skagway (semi formal)
Juneau
Ketchikan (pirate night)
At Sea
Vancouver

Our dining rotation was

AP, PC, T, AP, PC, T, AP

We did Palo on the 4th night for that reason since no matter what rotation we got, that restaurant would be on our rotation 3x. I didn't request a particular rotation and at first was a little bummed about Parrot Cay for formal night but it worked out great.

I'm not sure what the other rotations are in therms of order but you can call and they will be able to tell you the rotations as well as confirm which night is pirate night.

 

["Cinder" Ella's Mom]

Thanks for the report. I found it this morning at work and read the whole thing (not getting much done here!). I can't see the pictures so I am going to have to look at them at home on a better computer. I have my TA set to move our dummy booking to Alaska for summer 2013 and was looking for some info. to see if we would like it. It really sounds great. I LOVE warm weather cruises and we would have to go in early July, so I am wondering if I would hate the cold. Any thoughts? I was thrilled to see your kids could/would still swim in cooler weather.

 

[eandesmom]

[QUOTE="Cinder" Ella's Mom;43833849]Thanks for the report. I found it this morning at work and read the whole thing (not getting much done here!). I can't see the pictures so I am going to have to look at them at home on a better computer. I have my TA set to move our dummy booking to Alaska for summer 2013 and was looking for some info. to see if we would like it. It really sounds great. I LOVE warm weather cruises and we would have to go in early July, so I am wondering if I would hate the cold. Any thoughts? I was thrilled to see your kids could/would still swim in cooler weather.[/QUOTE]

I think it depends on the kids and family but the pools are certainly warm enough (80's). It will not be a warm weather cruise, the high at that time of year is 64 and the low is 48 so it just depends on how you are in the lower end, which can be most of the time on board. For us it was absolutely fine!

Looks like you'll be able to move on Thursday! Just got the email with itineraries...

 

[Chilly]

yeah, although the bathroom at that location is forever away so he had to pack up the laptop etc every time he had to go.



He will, to a point. He is only interested in DCL cruises, wiht a verandah, and has to spread it out and then it's only if it's an itinerary he is interested in (which limits it quite a bit). He loved Alaska and was very happy with the cruise itself as well. To be honest, the one we are booked on in August is not our first choice of itinerary by a long shot but it IS the only one that works to get Kendall on with us and we'd love for her to be able to to it so...

We would both love to do the Med next summer but it is very possible there will be a large family WDW trip that same year and no way we can do both.

You are so right on the sunset picture snapping!



I'm not sure the nights will be the same as the route is a little different.

Ours was like this

Vancouver
At Sea (formal night)
Skagway (semi formal)
Juneau
Ketchikan (pirate night)
At Sea
Vancouver

Our dining rotation was

AP, PC, T, AP, PC, T, AP

We did Palo on the 4th night for that reason since no matter what rotation we got, that restaurant would be on our rotation 3x. I didn't request a particular rotation and at first was a little bummed about Parrot Cay for formal night but it worked out great.

I'm not sure what the other rotations are in therms of order but you can call and they will be able to tell you the rotations as well as confirm which night is pirate night.

Thanks, it was which night to book Palo on that I was mainly interested in!

 

[natebenma]

What a fantastic afternoon! Once again, it is great that you had both couple time and family time on this trip. Good for you and Jeff, good for the boys.

Your sunset pictures are so very pretty!

PS- I will send you my updates the way you suggested. I have the info still (I think) from when I received photos for Teena's book.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Ahhhh... Isn't it great when you can feel relaxed as a vacation comes to an end.

You can never take too many sunset photos!

 

[eandesmom]

Thanks, it was which night to book Palo on that I was mainly interested in!

You can call DCL and confirm the rotation to make sure, it worked out perfectly for us on that 4th night and I was thrilled (as a first time cruiser) to get the ressie, right on the first day I could! Palo brunch took quite a while to get but I just kept checking and amazingly it opened up on Tracy Arm morning which was perfect!. You can always book on board if you really run into a bind.

What a fantastic afternoon! Once again, it is great that you had both couple time and family time on this trip. Good for you and Jeff, good for the boys.

Your sunset pictures are so very pretty!

PS- I will send you my updates the way you suggested. I have the info still (I think) from when I received photos for Teena's book.

I thought that might be easier for you, it seems like a lot of work the other way. The lighting was so hard to get right on those sunset pics, I eally need to learn how to work my camera better! I will practice a LOT this summer.

I don't think we will get the same amount of couple time on the next trip so was very excited to have it, it really was an unexpected blessing and while some of it was kid driven, it wasn't in the "I don't want to be with my parents" kind of way so it was just this huge win win all around!

Ahhhh... Isn't it great when you can feel relaxed as a vacation comes to an end.

You can never take too many sunset photos!

We were VERY relaxed. What was really nice about the at sea days is that they force you to relax, something neither Jeff or I are terribly good at. I am glad on this next trip that we have beach first as that's just as good as an at sea day.

I agree, never too many sunset pics!

 

[Chilly]

You can call DCL and confirm the rotation to make sure, it worked out perfectly for us on that 4th night and I was thrilled (as a first time cruiser) to get the ressie, right on the first day I could! Palo brunch took quite a while to get but I just kept checking and amazingly it opened up on Tracy Arm morning which was perfect!. You can always book on board if you really run into a bind.

I was thinking the Tracy Arm morning for brunch. Have spent my lunch hour today looking at tour options. Getting very excited.

 

[eandesmom]

I was thinking the Tracy Arm morning for brunch. Have spent my lunch hour today looking at tour options. Getting very excited.

Fun! Which ones are you looking at? Tracy Arm day was perfect for brunch, I still can't believe we got it!

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Oh my gosh! Your sunset pictures are insanely amazing!!! I can't even get over how beautiful they are!! WOW!

It really truly sounds wonderfully relaxing, romantic and restorative! Sigh is right!!!

 

[eandesmom]

Oh my gosh! Your sunset pictures are insanely amazing!!! I can't even get over how beautiful they are!! WOW!

Aw, coming from you that is a huge compliment! Your pictures are amazing!!!

It really truly sounds wonderfully relaxing, romantic and restorative! Sigh is right!!!

It really really was it may be a hard act to follow.

 

[cadams]

Thank you for taking the time to write such a comprehensive report. I am trying to decide if an Alaska cruise is in our future. I am heading in that direction after reading your report. I am a Seattle area resident as well - the great beer and coffee around here almost makes up for the rain and cloudy days!

 

[Flossbolna]

That last afternoon sounds really wonderful! And I did not mind all those sunset pictures at all. They were rather lovely.

 

[eandesmom]

Thank you for taking the time to write such a comprehensive report. I am trying to decide if an Alaska cruise is in our future. I am heading in that direction after reading your report. I am a Seattle area resident as well - the great beer and coffee around here almost makes up for the rain and cloudy days!

Thanks and the rain isn't so bad, it keeps people from moving here so we can have our sunny days all to ourselves! But yes, thank heavens for great beer, wine and coffee. I highly recommend the Alaska cruise, we had a wonderful time.

That last afternoon sounds really wonderful! And I did not mind all those sunset pictures at all. They were rather lovely.

It was really wonderful! Thank you on the sunset pictures, I had fun trying to capture it. Last night coming up next. Sniff!