And a Wonderful First DCL Cruise It Was, 7/6-7/13/2015, Alaska (Completed 3/27/2016)

[Claireywalsh]

Another great update! Looking forward to more!

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

I'm so excited to read your trip report Great job so far!

Heather

 

[Magic 2013]

Enjoying your report, great job so far can't wait to read more..

We are going on this cruise In July 2016 and can't wait. It seems such a long time but I'm sure it will go by quick.

 

[jtba]

Enjoying your report, great job so far can't wait to read more..

We are going on this cruise In July 2016 and can't wait. It seems such a long time but I'm sure it will go by quick.

thank you! your cruise will be here in no time at all. as it is i can't believe it's already been two weeks since we got off the ship!

 

[Claireywalsh]

Enjoying your report, great job so far can't wait to read more..

We are going on this cruise In July 2016 and can't wait. It seems such a long time but I'm sure it will go by quick.

It will!!!we were in your position last year, our countdown started at 59 weeks and now it's only 3!! Doesn't seem real that it's happening so soon, I'm so used to thinking it's ages away!

 

[zchantie]

I'm sad that we won't have a verandah this time around. There are lounge chairs on Deck 4, 9, & 10 though right? Hopefully we'll still get some good sights.

 

[jtba]

I'm sad that we won't have a verandah this time around. There are lounge chairs on Deck 4, 9, & 10 though right? Hopefully we'll still get some good sights.

YES! there are lots of chairs. just get up to decks 9 & 9 early and stake your claim. if they're all already taken go down to deck 4. it's less crowded there. and seriously, do not worry. you WILL get a good view regardless of where you are.

 

[zchantie]

YES! there are lots of chairs. just get up to decks 9 & 9 early and stake your claim. if they're all already taken go down to deck 4. it's less crowded there. and seriously, do not worry. you WILL get a good view regardless of where you are.

Thanks so much! I'm looking forward to this trip a lot. Can't wait to read more of your posts!

 

[Sccrmnky2005]

Everything sounds so wonderful! Great information!! Thank you.

We cruise end of August and plan on getting the 10 ticket booklet ( to use on the skytrain) hopefully it's still available.

Can you help me or tell me where you got information at knowing how many tickets were needed? As in there are three zones how do you know if you are going to go through 1, 2, or 3 zones? Just want to make sure when we buy the booklet one will be enough for us. We are doing the skytrain (and REALLY want the front seeing your amazing photos!!) from the airport to Canada place and then from Canada place to the airport after the cruise. I don't think we will need any for the buses as we plan to do The suspension bridge and grouse mountain (if clear skies) which seem to have free shuttle to and from.

Can't wait to read more! Thank you again for all your great information.

 

[jtba]

Everything sounds so wonderful! Great information!! Thank you.

We cruise end of August and plan on getting the 10 ticket booklet ( to use on the skytrain) hopefully it's still available.

Can you help me or tell me where you got information at knowing how many tickets were needed? As in there are three zones how do you know if you are going to go through 1, 2, or 3 zones? Just want to make sure when we buy the booklet one will be enough for us. We are doing the skytrain (and REALLY want the front seeing your amazing photos!!) from the airport to Canada place and then from Canada place to the airport after the cruise. I don't think we will need any for the buses as we plan to do The suspension bridge and grouse mountain (if clear skies) which seem to have free shuttle to and from.

Can't wait to read more! Thank you again for all your great information.

hubby is the one who reaearched the zones, so i'm trying to find the page that has all this info for you. will post it when i find it.

in the meantime:
1. on which days of the week will you be traveling? on the weekends and after 6 pm it's considered one zone.

2. how many people are in your party? i ask because it may not be worth it if you only have two people and require 4 tickets (let's say).

3. they also sell 10-ticket books that are good for traveling in two zones.

 

[jtba]

correction to the post above. going from airport to cruise terminal and vice versa is considered two zones, except after 6:30 p.m. and on the weekends and holidays:

http://www.translink.ca/en/Fares-and-Passes/Fare-Zone-Map.aspx

hubby says it wasn't immediately obvious where to buy the 10-ticket book within the airport. he had to study two maps of the airport to figure out where the 7-eleven was. so here are some instructions.

1. get off the plane, go thru customs, claim your luggage, etc.
2. see the map below:

the red arrows represent from where you'll come out after customs/luggage. there's a sidewalk outside the terminal (where the left-most red arrow is) to take you across the road to a parking garage. it's not immediately obvious (or perhaps we weren't paying attention), but that's where you take the escalators/elevator to level 4 to board the skytrain.

the blue arrows on the other hand take you through the parking garage to the 7-eleven that sells the 10-ticket books. hubby says there are two locations where you can buy such a thing, but he had called ahead and knew one of them (pharmasave) would be closed due to our late afternoon arrival, which is why he went to other place, the 7-eleven, which (according to its webpage) is open 24 hrs. the left-most (4th) left arrow, next to the red cross sign for health care services, is roughly where it is located.

(here's a link to the official vancouver airport map: http://www.yvr.ca/Libraries/Maps/Full_Terminal_Map.sflb.ashx. i provided a photoshopped version above in case the airport ever deletes that file)

 

[genki3]

I'm leaving on Monday's sailing. I was wondering if you can tell me quickly if the lumberjack show was worth it? Thank you!

 

[jtba]

I'm leaving on Monday's sailing. I was wondering if you can tell me quickly if the lumberjack show was worth it? Thank you!

i enjoyed it, in particularly because i have school-aged kids (DS8 + DD4). i would call it cheesy but entertaining. the lumberjacks and the audience were divided into two camps, usa vs. canada, and we would cheer for our team of lumberjacks when they competed against each other in various events, like (not sure if these are the right terms) pole climbing, sawing, log rolling over water, etc. i thought they would rig it so usa would win, but to my surprise canada won!

the only thing is i wish i hadn't booked it through DCL--initially i booked it with the show directly, but when i heard there was a disney-themed pre-show, i canceled and booked thru the cruise, thinking maybe mickey or some disney character would show up. however, we had to get there half an hour early (3 p.m.), and it really just involved having all the kids go up there to use a gigantic slingshot to shoot into a mickey mouse head target. it was a few dollars more than booking directly, and it was lame, in my opinion. if i had known i would not have done that.

they saved one section of seats in the middle and blocked all the early arrivals from sitting there, then opened it up for the folks who showed up later (not sure if they booked directly) , around 3:30 or 3:40. the real show started around 4, if i recall correctly.

 

[genki3]

Thank you for your honesty. I was planning to book it while onboard but I think I'll wait til we get to Ketchikan. No plans yet for that day but I'm sure we'll enjoy ourselves no matter what.

 

[jtba]

Thank you for your honesty. I was planning to book it while onboard but I think I'll wait til we get to Ketchikan. No plans yet for that day but I'm sure we'll enjoy ourselves no matter what.

i don't know how quickly the lumberjack show spots fill up. there were probably enough for 40 (?) seats in that section that opened late.

when i chatted with others from
our cruise, most of us opted for the lumberjack show (esp. those with kids) because there didn't seem to be too many other excursions that seemed interesting for ketchikan.

maybe you can ask on the main DCL forum and see what folks suggest.

have a great time on your cruise! oh i'm so envious you are getting on the wonder so soon... she is a beautiful ship and you will have a lovely time.

 

[genki3]

What is Ketchikan like? Can we walk around and go into stores, like in Skagway? Any good crab restaurants? I know someone else posted about a good salmon chowder somewhere but I've forgotten the name.

Besides the show and going on really expensive excursions, what else did people do while in port? Any ideas would be appreciated!

 

[genki3]

Omigoodness, I just reread your post, oops! Disregard my last question! Sorry it's probably my bedtime. Ha!

 

[jtba]

Omigoodness, I just reread your post, oops! Disregard my last question! Sorry it's probably my bedtime. Ha!

the ship docked very close to town (even closer than skagway), so you can totally walk around the shops right after you get off. no shuttle needed (like in juneau). we had lots of things to do in the morning, so i only had enough time to visit the two souvenir shops straight across the water from the wonder. the lumberjack show is about a two-minute walk from them.



can't answer your other questions so hope you'll have better luck from other folks. i know two families did the anan creek bear excursion and really enjoyed it. @pillow has a good trip report on that!

 

[genki3]

Thanks for the photo! Very helpful!

Arrived in Vancouver today and thanks to helpful threads like this I was able to save $ by buying the 10 pack Skytrain tickets.

In case anyone is interested, 1-zone tickets are CAD $21 and 2-zone tickets are CAD $31.50.

Vancouver is gorgeous and so clean! And people here are super nice! Would love to live here if I had a ton of money because staying in the city is expensive!

 

[jtba]

Thanks for the photo! Very helpful!

Arrived in Vancouver today and thanks to helpful threads like this I was able to save $ by buying the 10 pack Skytrain tickets.

In case anyone is interested, 1-zone tickets are CAD $21 and 2-zone tickets are CAD $31.50.

Vancouver is gorgeous and so clean! And people here are super nice! Would love to live here if I had a ton of money because staying in the city is expensive!

glad the bit on the skytrain helped. have a super great time on your cruise... say hello to the wonder for me!