Incredible Alaska Wonder Cruise June 8th-15th 2015

[EskiLvr]

Your pictures of the eagles are just incredible!

 

[jenbuFL]

So on to Ketchikan

We schedule a float plane tour with Island Wings Air Service. We were to meet at the rain guage at 1:45 so that gave us plenty of time to explore before meeting the van.

We walked around Creek street and then walked up to the Totem Pole Heritage Museum. It was a fairly easy walk although it is hilly. The museum is small and children may lose interest quickly.

We headed back to the pier to meet the van. We chose Island Wings for a few reasons.
-the tour was 2 hours long
-the plane lands in a lake near an island so everyone gets to get out and stretch their legs
-the microphones were voice activated so we could talk to our pilot Michelle during the tour
-everyone gets a window seat

The float plane ride was amazing! Well worth the money. Michelle was our pilot and she did a great job explaining all the landmarks we were seeing and answering our questions. I highly recommend Island Wings!

(I can't post the pictures from my iPad but I will try tomorrow from my computer at work)

After the float plane we caught the 4:45 bus to Saxman Village. The bus picks up at a quarter after so we walked around the totem poles and got picked up at 5:15.

We did a little more shopping back at the port and then got back on the ship to see "The Heath Show" at 6:15.

That brings me to my final thoughts on the cruise.

We found the entertainment less than entertaining. There was a juggler early in the cruise and he was hilarious but that was it. Hindsight I wouldn't have rushed back to see "The Heath Show". I just didn't find him funny but there were people laughing so it just wasn't my type of humor I guess. There also was a ventriloquist that I felt was really flat. Both of those entertainers came on the ship in Juneau so maybe they just hadn't found their groove yet.

Doug Jones on the other hand was amazing! We went to every talk he offered and often had his channel playing on the tv in our stateroom. The bummer part was his talk on Tracey Arm and the ice fields was at 9:30 and our character breakfast was at 9:45 on Tracey Arm day. We still went to listen to him for 10 minutes before breakfast. We wanted to hear everything he had to say!

We did frequent the pools quite often. The water was warm but it was really chilly as soon as you got out.

Since we drove to the port and I had heard that disembarking could be a lot of waiting we opted to do express walk off. We had late dining so our breakfast was at 9:15. We drug our bags down with us. And while we were eating we heard them call our luggage tags. So I guess we could have left them outside our door if we needed to. There was hardly a line to get off the ship and the bags were very well organized in the terminal. We were in our car headed to Grouse mountain at 10:15.

Grouse mountain was fantastic. We rode the ski lift up to the Eye of the Wind and the views were awesome. We made it back down for the noon lumberjack show. It was hilarious. We watched the bird show and then had a few Beaver tails before we left.

We made a quick stop at Granville Island island before we hit the rode for our drive back to Seattle. We had a 1am flight out of Sectac so we had a long day ahead of us.

We had an amazing vacation. The cruise was perfect and I wouldn't have changed a thing! And of course we booked another one-not Alaska but I could definitely see us doing Alaska again.

Thanks for reading! I would be happy to answer any questions anyone may have.

 

[Filipina]

Great trip report. Quick question. Looks like you are from a warm climate. How did you dress? Were you really cold? Did you bring warm coats and pants? I'm from California and freezing at 60 degrees.

 

[jenbuFL]

I was always freezing. I brought a lightweight jacket, a thicker fleece and a winter coat. My kids had zip up hoodies and winter jackets. They didn't think they needed the thicker coats. I wore my lightweight a lot-although the ship was warm enough for my family. I did bring a couple of dresses to wear to dinner but I changed back into my fleece yoga pants as soon as dinner was over. I did bring jeans and yoga pants for the cruise. Vancouver was warm so we did wear shorts then. The only day I was really cold was Tracey Arm but I was able to snuggle under some blankets.

My sons liked to play ping pong a lot and it was pretty windy up on deck 10. I did bring those small stretchable gloves and I had ordered a hood/scarf wrap from amazon to keep my ears warm. They do sell gloves/hats and ear warmers on the ship but I don't know how much they were charging.

Great trip report. Quick question. Looks like you are from a warm climate. How did you dress? Were you really cold? Did you bring warm coats and pants? I'm from California and freezing at 60 degrees.

 

[pillow]

Curious about where you ran. Our entire family runs, but I figured we would just run onboard. I hadn't really thought about running around town. Were there trails? I won't let my 15 year old daughter run by herself, but my 17 year old son would probably love to get off the ship to run.

Jodie

 

[jenbuFL]

Curious about where you ran. Our entire family runs, but I figured we would just run onboard. I hadn't really thought about running around town. Were there trails? I won't let my 15 year old daughter run by herself, but my 17 year old son would probably love to get off the ship to run.

Jodie

Hey Jodie-
Check out http://skagway.com/skagwaytrailmap.pdf There are some nice descriptions of the trails. We started on the Lower Dewey Lake trail but I wanted to get our run in and it was too steep (at least at first) for me to run. Skagway was a really easy place to run. It was about a 3 mile loop around the city. We did our run at 6pm so we didn't have to worry about bobbing and weaving around people. We did our other runs on the treadmills in the fitness center. Deck 4 was always windy and again I didn't want to worry about running around people. Ketchiken might be a bit tricky to run. I didn't see a lot of sidewalks but you should be ok in Juneau. The ship is about a mile from the main shopping area (and where the shuttle takes you) so you could make that into a start of a run. Lots of sidewalks in Juneau but also lots of pedestrians too.

 

[donutday]

I know this may seem very basic, but I have read about Palo brunches, but not character breakfasts. How do we sign up for those? I didn't see them in my dining booking options. I also wanted to tell you that some of your photos look professional!! They are breathtaking. Thanks for sharing all your information. It makes me even more excited about our trip in September.

 

[jenbuFL]

I know this may seem very basic, but I have read about Palo brunches, but not character breakfasts. How do we sign up for those? I didn't see them in my dining booking options. I also wanted to tell you that some of your photos look professional!! They are breathtaking. Thanks for sharing all your information. It makes me even more excited about our trip in September.

Thank you for the nice compliment but the scenery did most of the work. I didn't want to post too many. We took about 1500 pictures all together!

You are automatically assigned a character breakfast. There will be tickets it for it in your stateroom and your server will remind you about it. But you can't be late. The characters come around quick and you don't get a second chance.

 

[pillow]

Hey Jodie-
Check out http://skagway.com/skagwaytrailmap.pdf There are some nice descriptions of the trails. We started on the Lower Dewey Lake trail but I wanted to get our run in and it was too steep (at least at first) for me to run. Skagway was a really easy place to run. It was about a 3 mile loop around the city. We did our run at 6pm so we didn't have to worry about bobbing and weaving around people. We did our other runs on the treadmills in the fitness center. Deck 4 was always windy and again I didn't want to worry about running around people. Ketchiken might be a bit tricky to run. I didn't see a lot of sidewalks but you should be ok in Juneau. The ship is about a mile from the main shopping area (and where the shuttle takes you) so you could make that into a start of a run. Lots of sidewalks in Juneau but also lots of pedestrians too.

Thank you!

 

[donutday]

Thank you for the nice compliment but the scenery did most of the work. I didn't want to post too many. We took about 1500 pictures all together!

You are automatically assigned a character breakfast. There will be tickets it for it in your stateroom and your server will remind you about it. But you can't be late. The characters come around quick and you don't get a second chance.

What a nice surprise about the character breaksfast. I am so used to having to book (and pay for) them at WDW, I just assumed they must be an option like Palo I have only done 4 day cruises so far, and those weren't offered. I wish they still did High Tea however!

The scenery made for beautiful content, but good photography still takes a good eye!

Thanks again for your report. We are booked for a Misty Fjords flight too, but I wasn't sure if it would be worth the cost. I am glad to see you really enjoyed it. I think I will keep it on our itinerary after all.

 

[CDRT]

Are you able to tell me what princess were onboard? My 5 yr old would love to meet snow white

 

[jenbuFL]

Im sorry my boys are 9 and 13 so we didn't go to any of the princess gatherings. I hope someone else is about to help you find out.

 

[sharksfinatic17]

I know this may seem very basic, but I have read about Palo brunches, but not character breakfasts. How do we sign up for those? I didn't see them in my dining booking options. I also wanted to tell you that some of your photos look professional!! They are breathtaking. Thanks for sharing all your information. It makes me even more excited about our trip in September.

Starting this week's cruise you will need to sign up for the character breakfast, and it will be held in Animator's Palate. This is according to our server. Too many people weren't showing up or didn't like the day they were assigned.

 

[linetbo]

Starting this week's cruise you will need to sign up for the character breakfast, and it will be held in Animator's Palate. This is according to our server. Too many people weren't showing up or didn't like the day they were assigned.

ood to know we are on the July 20 sailing.

 

[disprincess4ever]

Our stateroom host Winston was awesome as were our serving team Oka and GiGi. They all provided excellent service!

We just had Winston last week on deck 7! We were in 7532, how about you?

 

[ckquan]

Thank you so much for your trip report. Enjoyed reading it and the info is very helpful as I plan for my first Alaskan cruise. I am trying to pack as light as possible. Can you tell me how formal were ladies dressed for formal night? Would a black skirt and a sleeveless rayon top be sufficient? Thank you for your help.

 

[jenbuFL]

We just had Winston last week on deck 7! We were in 7532, how about you?

We were in 7526. He did a great job for us! He was telling us he has been with Disney for 14 years and all those years have been on the Wonder. He definitely knows his job! He said he loves working for Disney.

 

[jenbuFL]

Thank you so much for your trip report. Enjoyed reading it and the info is very helpful as I plan for my first Alaskan cruise. I am trying to pack as light as possible. Can you tell me how formal were ladies dressed for formal night? Would a black skirt and a sleeveless rayon top be sufficient? Thank you for your help.

That would be perfect. Everyone was very toned down in the MDRs even on formal night.
This was our formal night but we are a pretty casual family.

 

[ckquan]

That would be perfect. Everyone was very toned down in the MDRs even on formal night. View attachment 106950
This was our formal night but we are a pretty casual family.

You have a beautiful family. Thank you for your help.

 

[jenbuFL]

You have a beautiful family. Thank you for your help.

Thank you! Enjoy your trip!