Aug 12-19.2013 Mickey's Mouseketeers -Alaska Cruise

[aimshna]

Hey all, just checking in! Starting to look for a hotel with parking for the cruise... anyone have some good ideas on that?

I added our info to the FE spreadsheet... we love doing the FE's!

I saw the Hampton's Inn has a special for parking for 8 days and transportation to the cruise ship. It is the one that is located in downtown Vancouver.

 

[Shelebeen]

I know I thought after we paid in full we could start booking excursions but we have to wait till May 14th. I was thinking it was 120 days out but I guess it is 90. I have been to Calgary and loved it. I have been to Vancouver a few times and Alaska 4 but I wanted my kids to see the beauty of Alaska. We did the Fantasy last August with all of them so now it is time for Alaska. All my kids love cruising and the grandkids can't be pried out of the kid's club. I am hoping I can get them out long enough to see the beautiful scenery and maybe a whale or two. That would make my trip for them to get to see some whales.

I know I was confused by that too, but then I realized the last two cruises we took we were in concierge and so I could book 120 days out! Thats great that you have been to Calgary. I have been to Alaska, but not on a cruise, my husband worked in Anchorage for a while many years ago. We were on the Fantasy last August too! Loved it...

 

[vgrandy]

We are planning on taking the Quick Shuttle from Sea Tac to Vancouver. It's a little more expensive then the train but picks up right at the airport so worth it for us.

Victoria

 

[modegard]

I saw the Hampton's Inn has a special for parking for 8 days and transportation to the cruise ship. It is the one that is located in downtown Vancouver.

We are booked in at the Coast Plaza Hotel and Suites. They also have a cruise package with parking and a limo ride to the port.




Merilee

 

[aimshna]

This thread is pretty quiet but I imagine it will pick up as our cruise gets closer - at least I hope so! Where do we sign up for the FE?

We have:
Katelyn - 11
Jacob - 8
Justin - 6

Cabin 5518

Autumn - 12
Brooke - 6
Ethan - 5

Cabin 5508

 

[vgrandy]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqkN4ZeUEvVadDRvWUNRaGx1amFySnZnTEs3RjFQNmc#gid=0

trying to post a link to the fe sign up

Victoria

 

[wachnicki]

I am putting together a Google Doc for our FE exchange. Go ahead and enter your information here.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqkN4ZeUEvVadDRvWUNRaGx1amFySnZnTEs3RjFQNmc&usp=sharing



Victoria

I think this was on page 9. Victoria started a google doc for us. I have an 11yo Kaitlyn too!

 

[wachnicki]

We posted at the same time!

Denise

 

[wachnicki]

So I asked my girls what was the 1 thing they would like to do on the cruise thinking they would want the 1 thing I wanted, since I've been talking about it. (To see AK from the air. Float plane). DD17 replies that she wants to hike on a glacier. This child is not keen on physical exercise and she wants to hike!? That of course is more $ than the floatplane!

Denise

 

[kayaker35]

Getting excited about the trip. Made our final payment, so it seems like it's real now.

We booked our flights to Seattle.... flying in on the 8th and taking the train to Vancouver on the morning of the 9th. I don't like flying, so the train sounded like a good idea. The route goes right along the coast, so it may be a pretty trip to boot. We'll have two full days to look around Vancouver before getting on the Wonder on the 12th.

We need to decide where to stay in Seattle on the 8th. Weighing price against proximity to King Street Amtrak station. The train leaves at 7:40, so we'll have to be up early to get there well in advance of departure. I would assume that a taxi would be available, but staying near the station would add peace of mind.

Has anyone stayed in Seattle before who can give any guidance?

Karen

 

[kayaker35]

Hearing nothing from those who might be "in the know," we forged ahead and made some decisions last night. Since we have to be at the train station at 6:45 a.m. or so to go to Vancouver, we didn't want to chance getting across Seattle from the airport, which I understand is about 20 miles from the train station, in the morning. I wouldn't sleep if I knew I had that ahead of me when I awoke. So, we booked a hotel that's about a mile from King Street Station, and figure it won't be too difficult to get a taxi over there in the morning.

On the way home, we don't get back to Seattle until 10:10 p.m. because Amtrak doesn't leave Vancouver until 5:45 p.m. We don't quite know what to do about finding a hotel for that night. I suppose we can get a cab to take us to an airport hotel to make it easier the next morning to catch our 10:45 flight back to Maine, but I don't know how easy it is to get a taxi in Seattle at night. Again, I ask anyone who's done this before to chime in with suggestions.

At this point, I'm getting really nervous about this trip. Getting to Port Canaveral was a piece of cake. This seems like such a major hassle. I do not want to fly from Seattle to Vancouver. I hate to fly as it is, and I'm looking forward to the relaxing train trip. I've traveled on Amtrak before, and find it a lot less stressful than being on an airplane. Being able to get up and walk around, and go to the dining car, seems a lot more civilized to me! If it had been practical, I would've booked Amtrak cross country, or even driven to Vancouver, but living in Maine that hardly seems like a rational plan, lol.

The reality of having to travel to a strange city (two strange cities) and having to find our way around, is beginning to weigh on me. Since we've dropped a ton of money on this cruise, it isn't likely we'll back out, but I'm beginning to wonder if we're up to actually getting to the port on time!

Anybody else getting cold feet?

Karen

 

[aimshna]

Our group of 12 are flying into Seattle on the 10th and spending the night at the Hampton Inn really close to the airport. On the 11th we are taking the quick shuttle to Vancouver and staying at the Hampton Inn there which has a shuttle for free to take us to the cruise ship. When we get back in on the 19th we take the quick shuttle which picks us up at the cruise terminal and takes us to Seattle airport. Still haven't booked our flights yet because we are in SF and there are lots of flights from the 3 airports close to our house. I know what you are saying because I have never been to Seattle before and only been to Vancouver as a stop over on a cruise to Alaska. We wanted to see the Space Needle and Pike's market and any other fun stuff in Seattle and the kids wanted to spend some time in Vancouver exploring. I always feel safe when we are at the city of departure a day before. I think it would have been much easier if Disney went out of Seattle for this cruise like they did last year. I am like you and hate to fly but this will be a piece of cake flying to Seattle then having to fly cross country to Florida like we did last year.

 

[aimshna]

We are in double digits today - 99 days till the cruise sails away. Seems like forever but it will be here before we know it. Can book our excursions on May 14 - silver member.

 

[wachnicki]

We are in double digits today - 99 days till the cruise sails away. Seems like forever but it will be here before we know it. Can book our excursions on May 14 - silver member.

Double digit dance!

 

[wachnicki]

On one hand I really like the longer port times sailing out of Vancouver, but I agree that it would have been so much easier if we sailed out of Seattle. We are driving up from Redding, Ca and trying to figure out where to leave our car is driving me nuts! Found a great coupon to park at the airport for the week, but we need to drive straight home once we disembark, (high school starts the 20th!) and I don't know how convienient that is going to be.

 

[nananeliz]

We have a different kind of plan because we are spending a couple of weeks in British Columbia after our cruise. We are flying into Seattle two nights before the cruise and spending the night near the airport, then driving to Vancouver the next day and spending the night there so we only have to get to the cruise terminal the next day. We are parking our rental car at the Vancouver cruise terminal while we are on the cruise.

We visited Seattle and Vancouver about 10 years ago, and really enjoyed it, so I'm excited to spend some more time there after our cruise.

I'm excited to book our cruise excursions -- since this is our first cruise, we'll have to wait until day 75. I'm hoping some of the ones we have in mind will still be available then!

 

[kayaker35]

Our group of 12 are flying into Seattle on the 10th and spending the night at the Hampton Inn really close to the airport. On the 11th we are taking the quick shuttle to Vancouver and staying at the Hampton Inn there which has a shuttle for free to take us to the cruise ship. When we get back in on the 19th we take the quick shuttle which picks us up at the cruise terminal and takes us to Seattle airport........

Wow..... So instead of having to get into Downtown Seattle to get Amtrak, we could just take the Quick Shuttle from Sea-Tac and be taken to Downtown Vancouver? From the looks of the information I found online, the price for the Quick Shuttle is on par with Amtrak, and it would be ever so much more convenient! I'm so glad I asked! We're staying at an airport hotel in Seattle with a free shuttle, so getting back to the airport on the next day to catch the Quick Shuttle bus will be no problem.

You learn something new every day. I was scouring the internet trying to find the best way to get from Sea-Tac to the Amtrak station, when that wasn't going to be necessary at all.

I canceled the hotel reservation we had for Vancouver, and will find one that has access to Quick Shuttle. Did you book through them and get their discount on the hotel, or did you find a better deal on your own?

Thanks so much for the information!

Karen

 

[aimshna]

Karen - we are staying at the Hampton Inn in Vancouver. They have a free shuttle to the port so that is why I booked with them - plus I have stayed at quite a few Hamptons and they all were nice plus you get free breakfast - the rate was not bad at all and it is in the heart of downtown.

 

[aimshna]

Wow..... So instead of having to get into Downtown Seattle to get Amtrak, we could just take the Quick Shuttle from Sea-Tac and be taken to Downtown Vancouver? From the looks of the information I found online, the price for the Quick Shuttle is on par with Amtrak, and it would be ever so much more convenient! I'm so glad I asked! We're staying at an airport hotel in Seattle with a free shuttle, so getting back to the airport on the next day to catch the Quick Shuttle bus will be no problem.

You learn something new every day. I was scouring the internet trying to find the best way to get from Sea-Tac to the Amtrak station, when that wasn't going to be necessary at all.

I canceled the hotel reservation we had for Vancouver, and will find one that has access to Quick Shuttle. Did you book through them and get their discount on the hotel, or did you find a better deal on your own?

Thanks so much for the information!

Karen

I just booked the hotel directly from the Hampton Inn site and the quick shuttle drops us off at the hotel. It is hard to put this all together and I did a lot of research to do that. We were going to rent cars to drive up from Seattle but I heard crossing the border, especially coming from Vancouver, sometimes takes an hour or longer. Quick shuttle checks all your passports when you board so we do not have to stop at the border which saves lots of times. I am still trying to figure out when to book the shuttle back because they leave the cruise terminal at 9, 9:15 and 10:45. Disney says the ship gets back in at 8 and I know they get you off the ship fast but I am a little worried if we could make the 9 or 9:15 shuttle. I was going to call Disney this week and see what they say

 

[kayaker35]

Thanks so much for all the info. I have now booked The Georgian Court Hotel. They are on the Quick Shuttle list of downtown hotels, and had good ratings. They also have complimentary shuttle to the cruise terminal.

We'll take the Quick Shuttle on the 9th from Sea-Tac to The Georgian Court, "live it up" in Vancouver for two days, and then take the free shuttle to the port on the 12th. On the 19th, we booked the 10:45 Quick Shuttle back to Sea-Tac, since I always err on the side of having more time rather than less. I know that we were off the ship earlier than that when we came back to Port Canaveral from The Bahamas, but we can cool our heels and have a latte somewhere (I hope) while we wait for the 10:45 shuttle back to Sea-Tac. Who knows... if they aren't full they may take you earlier anyway. I just felt more comfortable booking the later departure from the port. I hate to feel rushed.

Now I'm beginning to feel relaxed about the trip. I was so stressed, wondering about how to get to Vancouver from Seattle. Now that I've booked the shuttle (cast in stone), I feel great. We now will book the same airport hotel at Sea-Tac that we have going to the cruise for the night we return. I may be an old lady, but I'm new to all of this travel stuff.... it's been a real hassle! But it's coming together, and I'm looking forward to all of the fun to come . Honestly, having been on one Disney cruise, I have no qualms about anything that will happen on the ship. It's the getting there and getting back that is proving to be a real challenge! The Western Caribbean cruise will be a piece of cake compared to this! Next up is Panama Canal.... I'm on the verge of booking it .

Karen