Disneypoor's Alaskan Cruise June 7th, 2011

[Lovebug Eeyore]

Thank you so much! We are doing the LA-Canada repositioning tour and my college age daughters are flying up to do the Alaska cruise following with us. I want to arrange transportation from the airport and a day tour of Vancouver for them

Thanks again for the referral!

[Doingitagain]

We got back on Tuesday and had a wonderful trip. I hear that the July 5 cruise had the best weather and got the farthest into Tracy Arm so far.

Susan, we also added on to DVC! Could resist the Hawaii tease...hopefully with banking and borrowing we can go every 3 years.

Thanks for the tip of Nick, the limo driver, who did our airport pickup and a city tour.

P.S. We booked another cruise to Alaska next year. I know the port stops aren't as long, but it was the scenery on the ship that really impressed us. A half day in port is fine with us, especially since we were there this year.

[disneypoor]

Originally Posted by Doingitagain

We got back on Tuesday and had a wonderful trip. I hear that the July 5 cruise had the best weather and got the farthest into Tracy Arm so far.

Susan, we also added on to DVC! Could resist the Hawaii tease...hopefully with banking and borrowing we can go every 3 years.

Thanks for the tip of Nick, the limo driver, who did our airport pickup and a city tour.

P.S. We booked another cruise to Alaska next year. I know the port stops aren't as long, but it was the scenery on the ship that really impressed us. A half day in port is fine with us, especially since we were there this year.

So glad you had a great trip! I wish our weather had been a bit warmer when we cruised, but I shouldn't complain. It's been around a hundred degrees with heat indexes in the upper 100's here lately, so right now I'm kindof aching for that chilly weather. I'm never happy! Glad Nick worked out for you as well!

Now, you must tell me about adding on at Aulani! I keep eyeing it on dvcnews and it really isn't priced bad in my opinion. Do you mind me asking what kind of deals they had going on if you added on during the cruise? I've been thinking of adding on there already and doing a smaller number of points, banking and borrowing, and also trying to go every third year or so. I'd love to hear what you got!

Take care!

Susan

[disneypoor]

Originally Posted by Doingitagain

We got back on Tuesday and had a wonderful trip. I hear that the July 5 cruise had the best weather and got the farthest into Tracy Arm so far.

Susan, we also added on to DVC! Could resist the Hawaii tease...hopefully with banking and borrowing we can go every 3 years.

Thanks for the tip of Nick, the limo driver, who did our airport pickup and a city tour.

P.S. We booked another cruise to Alaska next year. I know the port stops aren't as long, but it was the scenery on the ship that really impressed us. A half day in port is fine with us, especially since we were there this year.

I forgot to even comment on you booking another Alaska cruise! That is awesome! We thought the scenery was some of the best we've ever seen! We're heading to Maui for spring break, so we likely might not even get to enjoy our DVC until next summer at the earliest. We're hoping to take my entire family (sisters and their families as well as my mom) for a beach vacation next summer if things work out when I go to book. It still seems weird to call BLT my home resort when I've never stayed there and don't have plans to stay there for my first DVC visit.

Susan

[Doingitagain]

Originally Posted by disneypoor

So glad you had a great trip! I wish our weather had been a bit warmer when we cruised, but I shouldn't complain. It's been around a hundred degrees with heat indexes in the upper 100's here lately, so right now I'm kindof aching for that chilly weather. I'm never happy! Glad Nick worked out for you as well!

Now, you must tell me about adding on at Aulani! I keep eyeing it on dvcnews and it really isn't priced bad in my opinion. Do you mind me asking what kind of deals they had going on if you added on during the cruise? I've been thinking of adding on there already and doing a smaller number of points, banking and borrowing, and also trying to go every third year or so. I'd love to hear what you got!

Take care!

Susan

We have the same heat and really miss the cooler weather in Vancouver and Alaska!

The onboard perks are as follows:
30 VIP fast passes
$500 shipboard credit at 150 points or more
Discount against points depending on how many you purchase

[ariel39]

Thank you Susan....We have Nick picking us up at the airport. We need 2 limos as we have 11 people flying in. He seemed very pleased with all of the referrals........

[disneypoor]

Originally Posted by ariel39

Thank you Susan....We have Nick picking us up at the airport. We need 2 limos as we have 11 people flying in. He seemed very pleased with all of the referrals........

Tell Nick we said hi when you get there! I'm glad he is getting so many phone calls. Enjoy your trip and let me know how it was when you get back!

Susan

[cdnmomof2]

Thanks for the great read!
I was wondering if you could tell me more about the photos at shutters. When you do a family portrait, what do they charge? Should I buy a credits package before we get on board?

[disneypoor]

Originally Posted by cdnmomof2

Thanks for the great read!
I was wondering if you could tell me more about the photos at shutters. When you do a family portrait, what do they charge? Should I buy a credits package before we get on board?

Hi! I'm so sorry it has taken me a while to get back to you! We were out of town and on a mini-vacation for my sister's wedding. There is no additional cost for doing a family portrait. They cost the same as any other 8X10. I've done it both ways--I've bought the Shutter's package, and I have also just bought individual pictures. To buy an 8X10, I believe it is $20. You wouldn't need to buy a package before you get onboard. In fact, you could buy a few individual pictures and then decide to do a package, and they would apply your credit from your individual pictures to your package. They are super easy to work with! There are also kiosks that you can use to view all of the photos you've had taken while on the cruise. You can purchase from those or go directly to Shutter's. Let me know if you have other questions.

Susan

[siburdue]

Originally Posted by disneypoor

Thanks to all of my groupies out there! I appreciate everyone taking the time to read!

As for formal night, there was a little bit of everything. Some people were dressed very fancy, some were just in nice dress clothes that you might wear to church, and some were not dressed up at all. We saw more people on this cruise not dressed up at all than we've ever seen. To be quite honest, I think it was very hard to pack for this trip, and I can see why people didn't bring a bunch of dress clothes. My family of four took five suitcases, and we had to pay $135 each way for the airline because of it. Of course, if I had to do it all over again, I'd do it differently, and we'd pack differently, but I wanted to be prepared for anything. Hope this helps and do beware of the arcade! It always adds a lot to our bill at the end. Fortunately, our son doesn't spend without asking first, but it adds up very quickly!

Susan

Can you let me know how you would pack differently, if you could do it again? Two weeks until our cruise!

[disneypoor]

Originally Posted by siburdue

Can you let me know how you would pack differently, if you could do it again? Two weeks until our cruise!

Hi! The weather for us was just a little chillier than I had expected, but I do think the cruises after us have had much warmer weather. I would not have packed quite as many dress clothes for sure. I did laundry onboard (several times ), so I think if I had taken about half of what I actually took, I'd have been fine. However, I'm the one who always says that next time I'm not taking as much and then I do, so I'm not sure if you should really listen to me or not. Good luck and have a fabulous trip!

Susan

[siburdue]

Originally Posted by disneypoor

Hi! The weather for us was just a little chillier than I had expected, but I do think the cruises after us have had much warmer weather. I would not have packed quite as many dress clothes for sure. I did laundry onboard (several times ), so I think if I had taken about half of what I actually took, I'd have been fine. However, I'm the one who always says that next time I'm not taking as much and then I do, so I'm not sure if you should really listen to me or not. Good luck and have a fabulous trip!

Susan

Thank you so much Susan, I have really enjoyed reading your trip report. You are a very good writer and really made the trip 'come to life' for me

[disneypoor]

Originally Posted by siburdue

Thank you so much Susan, I have really enjoyed reading your trip report. You are a very good writer and really made the trip 'come to life' for me

Thank you! I'm glad I've been able to help a few people in getting prepared for their trips. I am on the boards constantly and got so much help when I first began cruising, so I'm just trying to pay it forward. Now I'm over on the DVC boards bugging all of those people! They'll probably be so glad when I finally get it all figured out!

Susan

[ariel39]

Originally Posted by disneypoor

Hi! The weather for us was just a little chillier than I had expected, but I do think the cruises after us have had much warmer weather. I would not have packed quite as many dress clothes for sure. I did laundry onboard (several times ), so I think if I had taken about half of what I actually took, I'd have been fine. However, I'm the one who always says that next time I'm not taking as much and then I do, so I'm not sure if you should really listen to me or not. Good luck and have a fabulous trip!

Susan

Just got home from our trip and it was FREEZING! We all had to buy sweaters and really couldn't enjoy the deck. We started with Tracy Arm on deck and then went to our rooms.

[ariel39]

Originally Posted by disneypoor

Tell Nick we said hi when you get there! I'm glad he is getting so many phone calls. Enjoy your trip and let me know how it was when you get back!

Susan

thank you for the referral and he was very nice. Our plane was delayed for hours leaving las vegas as the flight was orignating in Toronto and they had an electrical storm. I called him to let him know we were delayed and he said not to worry. He was there when we got there, loaded up the limos and straight to the hotel

We made arrangements to be picked up at noon on the 2nd, 2 hour tour and then to the airport. Our tour went well but the other limo driver didn't do as well. But when we got to the airport he charged me for 3 hours cause he came early I was not happy and had to charge half of it as I didn't have the cash since we budgetted for 2 hours. (2 limos $510)

Thank you again Susan. I appreciate the referral, I would just recommend anyone who uses him to get the total fee's upfront......