Hi, we're going on the Disney Wonder to Alaska in a few weeks. Welcome home! I was wondering if you wouldn't mind answering some questions.
Hope you all had a marvelous time!
Thanks is advance for any questions you might answer.
Awesome!! congrats!!! You will have an AMAZING time!!!! We just arrived home late last night...did not want to wake up for work today (especially since we have messy house from frantic packing...
)
But on to your questions:
Checking in @ the port:
What time did you get there & how long was the process & the wait before you were finally on Board?
We arrived late...around 2pm and we got through quickly! There was barely any one there. Of course that meant we rushed through our Beach Blanket Buffet lunch...partly because we stopped to drop off some bags (and stroller) at room.
I heard from another at our table that coming in earlier it was a bit hectic.
What time did they start the checking in process?
I heard 11am.
Is the checking in process any better organized than previously reported by early Alaskan cruisers?
Seems a bit. We came late so can't give 1st hand knowledge. Going late was fine for us. I wish we had arrived earlier because it seems we missed seeing Mickey and Minnie.
But we had SO MANY more photo opportunities!
Weather:
What weather (temps, rain, etc.) did you experience over the week.
We were extremely blessed all trip with surprisingly great weather! That's what the locals would tell us...
In Vancouver, the 2 days before the cruise we had mid to high 70s.
In Alaska, at Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan we had probably 60s for high... 50s for lows... No rain!!
We missed the Ketchikan rain...thank goodness for arriving later in the day. Our tour guide/bus driver told us it had rained in the morning. On shore excursions, I wore Columbia long sleeve shirts (in their outdoor/hiking section). But truthfully hoodies, long sleeve t-shirts, or fleeces would've done nicely. This is what most people wore. I did wear Under Armour Cold Gear long sleeve t-shirt on our Juneau excursion because we were doing a whale watching excursion and would be on the water. When those boats move...they move!! But an amazing excursion!!
Sea days it was COLD and windy!!! Save your warm clothes: hats, gloves, hoodies, coats etc for the sea days if you plan to be on Deck 9 or even Deck 10. One of the days I went up to Deck 10 and was getting knocked around by the wind. Crazy but fun (kinda) ... At night on sea days it'd get very cold that we would rush out and back in. lol But Tracy Arm day, we had nice weather. At one point it sprinkled a bit and got a bit windy...I did put on a jacket for a bit.
Did any of the temps. allow you to wear shorts? If so on board or ports?
I wore shorts in Seattle the weekend before the cruise (we stayed there few days before going to Vancouver BC). I didn't wear any on the cruise...except in doors. Forgot to mention that above but the first and last days of the cruise it was H-O-T hot!! oh my... For others it might've been comfortable though but I tend to be a warmer person. And I also like my bedroom/stateroom a bit colder (68 degrees)...felt like it was around 75-78 that first and last day. I didn't see too many wearing shorts...mostly young boys and teens. I probably would've worn shorts on the Skagway day...but decided on jeans as a just in case it got cold...which it never did. I did see some people in Juneau wearing shorts (can't remember if they were locals or tourists)
On board the ship, inside it's very warm. You take your chance on Deck 9 and definitely Deck 10.
How much of the time did you have to bundle/layer up? just on board or ports too?
Jut on board. I tend to be pretty warm person
But Pirate night...wheeee boy! That was cold! Not a big turn out because of that (which was fine because our family got front row). I believe it was the first day at sea (Wednesday) that it was EXTREMELY windy!!! I tried to play a bit of soccer...but it was like a Charlie Brown incident...lol... I'd go to kick the ball...the wind would blow away the ball and I'd WHIIIIIF!!
At night, all the CMs working the quick service stands were bundled up. I felt so bad for them. It'd get windy and cold at night there out in the open. The beverage stations weren't too bad...but the hot chocolate station would get buys on the colder times. LOL
Other:
What was your most favorite thing you did the week of your cruise?
Hard to choose!! I think probably my daughter with the characters! If you like characters, keep a look-out. They post times in the Navigator but we'd see them roaming the ship. We saw Goofy, Stitch, Ariel, Peter Pan, and Cinderella just by chance!
My daughter (2 years old) got to ride up in the elevator with Goofy!! Holding his hand and getting tickled by him.
So awesome!! Just by chance...my wife and daughter were going up to the pool and Goofy and CM got their elevator.
Another night, my daughter was escorted by Ariel down from Deck 5 to Deck 3 to take a picture at the Ariel statue in front of Tritons. I did tell Ariel that we had been looking for her and that my daughter made us take a picture of her in front of the statue every night. LOL So Ariel, said let's go take a picture there together!! Magical!
My daughter still talks about that...and that we saw Ariel on the last night and she said "Swim over her, little guppy and let's take a picture."
The Yukon Expedition excursion at Skagway was incredible and the best of the 3 we took overall. We had a very knowledgable and entertaining driver. Amazing views. He stopped several times for pictures (something I feared we wouldn't do on an excursion purchased through the ship)...even taking family photos for us. The dog musher camp was neat and a fav of my daughter. She got to pet puppies and goats and even feed them! Then we took the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad down into Skagway. AMAZING!!!! I easily filled a digital photo card that day!!
The other must-do I HIGHLY recommend is the Great Alaskan Lumberjack show in Ketchikan!!!!! What a fun time!! I thought it might be boring but NOT the case. Not only are those guys skilled, but they are very entertaining!!! They had us laughing, cheering ... and even booing (in good spirit) for the opposing team. Great family fun. And it was a short walk from the ship.
Speaking of Ketchikan day...what a mess!! Why they had that night as semi-formal night is beyond me. We had to rush back after the Lumberjack show to make dinner (we had 1st seating) and even then we were an hour late. Thankfully we had very good server, who was understanding...and we also ate quickly because we didn't want to delay him (too much) from getting ready for the 2nd seating. Our dining room was only 1/2 filled and maybe only a 1/4 were dressed semi-formal. Most people seemed to be like us, rushing back and went straight to dinner from their excursion. It didn't help that we delayed to disembark...we were told because Celebrity left port late by the shore excursion team.
The shows were fantastic! Meeting new people was great! Since we have a 2 year old, we tended to meet others with kids. My daughter is VERY sociable with other kids.
Seeing our daughter dance all other ship...not just at dance parties. She'd hear music and start to dance!
Alaska is AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL!!! I loved every moment seeing the scenery of Alaska. WOW!!!
Oh, we saw a little bear on the side of the road in Skagway!
Other quick thoughts:
Laundry is much better than it was about 2 years ago...at least in terms you can use your room key for purchasing soap and using the machines. No needing coins.
Not a lot of people on our cruise that dressed up for formal night. I wore a nice suit (with tie) and was a bit overdressed (at least compared to the others at our table). I saw maybe 3 people in tuxes. The women were more likely to be dressed in nice, fancy dresses.
The 10pm 'Til We Meet Again party is great way to cap vacation. Don't miss it!! You to see all the characters (and show people)...then 15 minutes for pictures. My daughter and I ran around and got Ariel, Captain Mickey, Mininie, Donald and Daisy (in sailing outfits) and Stitch (right at the "buzzer"). Fun daddy-daughter time.
Then they line up again and you get big picture (or i took video) as we say "goodnight" to them. Bitter sweet but fun
Also be prepared for the last day...ugh... I hated the debarkation process. Maybe it was because I was tired...maybe because we had too much stuff with us... But that was worst of trip! Everyone has to be out of their rooms early...and they just mill around the ship. Made it very difficult to navigate. We unfortunately needed to get change/money from Guest Services and purchase our photos from Shutters (ran out of time last night b/c of show, party and packing). My suggestion is to limit what you carry off, go to breakfast and just sit there til you're called off ship (or they kick you out for 2nd seating?) I guess unless you're on the early flights out of Vancouver.
Sorry if this was long. LOL Hope this helped. Let me know if you have any further questions! Glad to help!!!!
So hopefully they were well received. It was our first time participating. Next time, I want to be as creative as those on this cruise!!! 
In Skagway we're doing White Pass Rail & Suspension Bridge the the Mamoth Waterfall Zipline.
I might even bring my sons Mickey hands. Were you in Vancouver when the riots hit? We'll be staying in Downtown just a few blocks from the areas that were hit by rioters. We're hoping things will be cleaned up & back to normal by the time we go.
I hope they will let us do that to! Just a few minutes with them & holding them will do me good. Is the place where the ziplines are beautiful? I've seen some of their youtube videos & it looks gorgeous. Did you zipline on the really long one? If so how was it & how fast do you really go?
