June 14, 2011 - Father's Day on the Wonder in ALASKA!

[nzdisneymom]

It looks like there are plenty of excursions still available at all stops. We are doing:

Juneau: private whale watching with Harv& Marv

What time are you doing the Whale Watching with Harv and Marv? And are you doing it just the two of you? We are thinking about scheduling them for after our helicopter tour - I was going to email / call this week to find out. They say they take up to six out at a time - we are a party of 4 so I was thinking if you are doing a just the two of you but wanted to coordinate for a six of us and split the cost proportionally, we could talk about that!

Or not. My boys will be 15 and 13 3/4 when we travel (Nathan turns 15 on board).

 

[wendy151950]

What time are you doing the Whale Watching with Harv and Marv? And are you doing it just the two of you?

Hi Cindy,

We're being picked up at the port at 11:30 am. Would be great if we could do it together though pricing seems to be per person. Not sure. Danielle is very responsive on e-mail. It is just the 2 of us so your 4 would seem to be a good fit. Sarah, DD, is 15 (will be 15.5 on the cruise) but isn't too into boys except as friends! E-mail me privately if you want more info.

 

[Smileneyes]

Congratulations, gang, only...

...11 weeks to go!!!



--Drew

 

[disneyochem]

Congratulations, gang, only...

...11 weeks to go!!!



--Drew

Yippee Skippee!!!


Question--we are close to when we can start booking our excursions. Do you have to pay at the time of booking with Disney? Thanks.

 

[lsutiggeratwk]

You don't have to pay for excursions when you book. i think i remember that they add it to your cabin account.

Can't help you with the booking date, although if it is at 75 days, then Thursday would probably be the day. According to Drew

I'm really getting excited about the cruise. Just submitted a huge proposal at work (it is what keeps me employed so now I can get back into the planning and thinking mode. Whoo Hoo

thanks for the countdown, Drew!!

 

[disneyochem]

You don't have to pay for excursions when you book. i think i remember that they add it to your cabin account.

Can't help you with the booking date, although if it is at 75 days, then Thursday would probably be the day. According to Drew

Thanks! DH will be happy that he can pay for the trips in a couple of months since he just paid the credit card "rest of the cruise payment"!

Thanks, honey!

 

[Smileneyes]

Good morning, all!

Given that people may be starting to make plans to purchase and/or make their FE gifts, let's set a cutoff date for participation. If you've been on the fence, or just now discovering our meet thread, please let me know no later than

Sunday, April 10, 2011

if you wish to participate. Again, it would be helpful to have names, ages and genders for children, and hometown. Once you have it, please PM me with your stateroom number (those who have already done so need not provide again, unless you have received a "pixie dust" upgrade).

If you want the Excel spreadsheet, and I do not already have it, please PM me with your e-mail address as well. I will be sending out the first draft of the list to participants around 4/15/11. If you are in a GTY room and do not receive your stateroom assignment by that date, don't panic...I will send a revised spreadsheet to all once I have the last stateroom number.

Again, there are no "rules" for participation. Some people give one small gift to a stateroom each day, while others give one bigger gift. Some break it down by each person in the stateroom, some give to just kids, and some have one gift for the entire family. Be as creative as you want...the goal is to have fun, and for each of us to enjoy the surprises that come in our FE during the cruise!

Finally, we will have a DisBoards meet and greet on the first day (embarkation day) at 3PM in the Promenade Lounge on Deck 3. This will give us ample time to socialize before the 4PM muster drill. As I understand it from reading other threads, we are no longer required to wear our life vests...we just need to take our KTTW cards for verification. This will give us a few extra moments (if you wish) to get to know your DisBoards friends a little better. Please join us, whether or not you decide to participate in the FE. We want to have the chance to meet EVERYONE!



Thanks to everyone!
--Drew

 

[jcarlstrom]

I am considering the FE exchange, but am curious about the number of gifts one is typically responsible for. Do you divide the group into a subset, or is it for everyone on the current list?
Thanks,
Cruise Newbie
Jennifer in CA

 

[disneyochem]

Yea! I just booked our shore excursions! Still lots of seats are available. I was surprise to see how booked the trips are in Ketchikan...

We got:
White Pass Railway and Trail Camp in Skagway
Alaska Whales and Science Adventure in Juneau
Bike Tour and Lumberjack Show in Ketchikan.

I was also able to get dinner at Palo on night 6 (after our adventures in Ketchikan). Didn't see anything I wanted at the spa. Will wait to book until on board.


Now I can concentrate on getting the FE gifts done......

 

[ward3]

UGH! Disney website had a problem for an hour while I was trying to register for excursions. Didn't get much of what I wanted. Wanted dog sledding on glaciers. They are all booked up for a party of three. No good times left for PALO either. Here is what we did reserve.

Skagway - Mushers' Camp/Palo Dinner
Juneau - Mendenhall Glacier Float Trip
Historic Gold Panning
Ketchikan - Misty Fjords Float Plane

We are are a little disappointed.

 

[Smileneyes]

I am considering the FE exchange, but am curious about the number of gifts one is typically responsible for. Do you divide the group into a subset, or is it for everyone on the current list?
Thanks,
Cruise Newbie
Jennifer in CA

Hi, Jennifer. The number of gifts per stateroom is entirely at the participants' discretion. The underlying hope is that a participant can give to each stateroom...whether it is one family gift or gifts for each individual in said stateroom.

At this point, we have been planning for one big group. If a solid majority of those who're participating would rather break the list up into two smaller groups, we can do that...but it would be up to the majority. I'm just the "organizer".

FE gang, feel free to chime in...but please do so soon, if we're going to change the format. People are already starting to plan!

--Drew

 

[Smileneyes]

UGH! Disney website had a problem for an hour while I was trying to register for excursions. Didn't get much of what I wanted. Wanted dog sledding on glaciers. They are all booked up for a party of three. No good times left for PALO either. Here is what we did reserve.

Skagway - Mushers' Camp/Palo Dinner
Juneau - Mendenhall Glacier Float Trip
Historic Gold Panning
Ketchikan - Misty Fjords Float Plane

We are are a little disappointed.

Keep checking in periodically...things open up as people change their budgets. Also don't forget to hit Wavebands as soon as you board...Palo ressies may be available for the time you want by then.

Hoping some pixie dust heads your way!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Hi Cindy,

We're being picked up at the port at 11:30 am. Would be great if we could do it together though pricing seems to be per person. Not sure. Danielle is very responsive on e-mail. It is just the 2 of us so your 4 would seem to be a good fit. Sarah, DD, is 15 (will be 15.5 on the cruise) but isn't too into boys except as friends! E-mail me privately if you want more info.

Wendy - I talked to Danielle on Tuesday and we're all set to go on the same one with you and Sarah. That will work out great because they will only have to pick up from one place and return to one place. I'm mailing my check this weekend. And FWIW, my boys are (right now) only interested in girls as friends Looking forward to meeting y'all (and the rest of the DIS gang!) soon!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Yea! I just booked our shore excursions! Still lots of seats are available. I was surprise to see how booked the trips are in Ketchikan...

We got:
White Pass Railway and Trail Camp in Skagway

We have the same one for Skagway!

 

[nzdisneymom]

I vote for FE to be one big list rather than subsetting - I don't think we have an unreasonable number of participants (in terms of the number of cabins participating). We've done it with more and with less. The FE gifts don't need to be extravagant or even "creative" - just a little something to spread some magic I'm still working out an idea - not sure if we'll go with it or with something else.

 

[SteffyLou]

I agree with the one big list. Hopefully, we get our room assignments soon! I looked on the website and there are A LOT of categories no longer posted or in the GTY status now. This morning there was only 1 oceanview category open and 2 verandah categories open. There were 5 inside rooms open, but 3 are in GTY status. Looks like the ship may be filling up!

We are also doing the White Pass and Liar's Camp. We also booked Harv and Marv, but a private boat since there were 5 of us and a 7 year and we wanted her to be able to come with.

 

[disneyochem]

We have the same one for Skagway!

Hubby, who is my train-buff, is not with us. I got him the veeerrrryyy last seat on the Steam Train Excursion. Yep, he would rather sit for six hours on a steam train BY HIMSELF than to ride a diesel train!

 

[disneyochem]

I agree with those who want the one big list for FE. I have never done it either (and it seems a bit overhelming) but I think it will be more fun with more folks!

 

[sunshine state kim]

Hello! So was today the day for 1st time cruisers to be able to pick excursions? I thought it was tomorrow. I'll have to clue my brother in. I hope there are some kind of train excursions left for Skagway as I don't think my parents have booked yet (even though they could have as they have cruised once before, but you can only encourage them to get on it so often before becoming a nag!)

We'd like just 1 big FE group too. Some of the best FE gifts I've gotten in the past were so simple and so perfect. One was just a ziploc bag with a couple of bandaids, safety pins, paper clips and rubber bands. Now I keep it with my FE and refill whatever I used and it's ready to go. Magnets are always fun to decorate the door. You can make your own with some magnetic paper and a printer. Highlighters are always useful and you can never go wrong with a fun size candy bar. Keep it simple! It's fun!

Kim

 

[DVC Mary]

And FWIW, my boys are (right now) only interested in girls as friends Looking forward to meeting y'all (and the rest of the DIS gang!) soon!

With all the teens & tweens on this cruise, it will be interesting.


One big FE is fine w/ us.

Kim: Good luck getting all your reservations!