Our 1st cruise, a Wonder wander from Van-San Diego Sept 2015 w/Navigators COMPLETED 11/11/15

[sharksfinatic17]

Just for some insight. We have been on the Wonder twice and the Fantasy once, and the disembarkation has never been that bad. You don't ever go into the theater in either Florida or Vancouver. So I think it is a San Diego thing. In June we had breakfast, did express walk off, grabbed a taxi and got to the airport by 8:30 (this was in Vancouver).

 

[Conorama]

So here are some final thoughts on our cruise as I close this TR.

We came into cruising not knowing a ton (all knowledge was gained from the DisBoards, which of course is a wealth of information!) and what some friends had told us (those who had sailed DCL and those who had not). We came on and compared it to travelling to all inclusives; I don't know if this is fair or not but it is what it is.
...

With the memories of a crappy disembarkation fading, the memories of all the wonderful experiences we had are still alive and well. So while we probably will never make it to Platinum on DCL, we will enjoy a second cruise in 2016 (and possibly a 3rd....if I book a $200 placeholder on board lol).

Thanks for reading!

I was away from the boards for the last little bit (tending to life & work matters). Today, I am being lazy so I read your full TR, and Conor commented on the photos. (He was keen on all except anything with princesses or Frozen references...)

Your debarkation day sounds about 30,000 times worse than anything I've ever experienced. At PC 3 times, the line ups to get off the ship were there but manageable, plus we had had our coffee & breakfast (though, fair confession, I will note we avoid the MDRs like the plague the last morning, preferring to order breakfast-y stuff the night before from room service, as it keeps the morning a bit more calm...) Customs was in the port, and again, other than line-ups, reasonable painless.

At Canada Place, it was more waiting inside (for your tag to be called) and a bit more of the line confusion than at PC, but nothing like what you described. Customs was hysterically quick- a short glance at our card and we were waved through.

We decided to do an all-inclusive this year for our winter trip, largely because of the horrid Canadian dollar. I'll be interesting to see how it goes in comparison to our unplanned cruise-a-thon in 2014/2015.

However, Alaska was outstanding for us- by far our best cruising experience. It's what you said plus, well, incredible scenery, super-nice people, and a huge wow factor.

Oh, and I love your "I will not dress up" child. I have a dress-up child, but he has many other things he WILL NOT DO (when he saw your photos of Ferris wheels and roller coasters, we got the " I am NOT going on those" statement). And right now, he's having a grand old time playing with the calculator mode of my handed-down ipod touch. Here's to not producing sheep.

Tx for your TR!

 

[bcwife76]

Oh yay, I'm glad you got all caught up!

Would you believe we're actually thinking of switching our Alaskan cruise to a different 7 day Disney cruise for Jan 2017 instead? Only because of our sh*tty CDN dollar haven't made a final decision yet though (and our PIF date for Alaska isn't til mid-April)

 

[Angeejoe]

So for some odd reason several threads I follow did not give me alerts on updates. I just finished your TR, though I couldn't see many of the pics (TRs since the DIS update have been so hit & miss for me). It looks like a fun whirlwind DL trip!!! Thank you for sharing!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Oh yay, I'm glad you got all caught up!

Would you believe we're actually thinking of switching our Alaskan cruise to a different 7 day Disney cruise for Jan 2017 instead? Only because of our sh*tty CDN dollar haven't made a final decision yet though (and our PIF date for Alaska isn't til mid-April)

Hi Angela, I really think you'd love a January cruise down south, they have a way different vibe than our cruise did. They are so kick back and relaxing, I can hardly wait to do a warm weather cruise again. Which ones are you considering?

 

[bcwife76]

Hi Angela, I really think you'd love a January cruise down south, they have a way different vibe than our cruise did. They are so kick back and relaxing, I can hardly wait to do a warm weather cruise again. Which ones are you considering?

Right now we're considering the 7 night Bahamian from Galveston (January 13 2017) the 7 night Eastern Carib (January 28 2017) or the 7 night Western Carib (January 21 2017).

 

[bcwife76]

And if we pushed it back to one of those dates in January 2017 (or even later into 2017 depending on what may or may not be released this coming Spring) we can probably go to Maui for a week in May 2016. Somehow my Alaskan dream cruise is being trumped by a week in Maui and a week long Caribbean cruise.....

 

[Angeejoe]

And if we pushed it back to one of those dates in January 2017 (or even later into 2017 depending on what may or may not be released this coming Spring) we can probably go to Maui for a week in May 2016. Somehow my Alaskan dream cruise is being trumped by a week in Maui and a week long Caribbean cruise.....

Alaska will be there!!! These trips to Maui & Caribbean sound awesome!

 

[bcwife76]

Alaska will be there!!! These trips to Maui & Caribbean sound awesome!

I know, right? Alaska isn't going anywhere and we live in Vancouver so there will always be cruises going up there each year. We celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary in 2019 so we could always save it for that.
Plus the condo in Maui is sorted, our realtor (and good friend) owns one she rents out and would give us a fab deal. And she knows all the ins and outs of the area so could give us $ saving tips for food, things to do, etc.

 

[xlxo]

I know, right? Alaska isn't going anywhere

Perhaps... but those Glaciers are..... amazing how much Sawyer keeps retreating as the Wonder chases up the Fjord. Mendenhall may need to move the visitor centre soon.

BTW.... As Vancouver is a bonus port.... now is the time go when the currency has collapsed. Huge savings!

 

[bcwife76]

Perhaps... but those Glaciers are..... amazing how much Sawyer keeps retreating as the Wonder chases up the Fjord. Mendenhall may need to move the visitor centre soon.

I did think of that....sad really isn't it?

 

[Angeejoe]

Perhaps... but those Glaciers are..... amazing how much Sawyer keeps retreating as the Wonder chases up the Fjord. Mendenhall may need to move the visitor centre soon.

BTW.... As Vancouver is a bonus port.... now is the time go when the currency has collapsed. Huge savings!

But BCWife76 is from Canada, so it her dollar that's bad unfortunately....

 

[bcwife76]

Haha, yes as Angeejoe pointed out we are FROM Vancouver, so no savings for us!

 

[xlxo]

Ooops.... I guess the secret is out.

 

[bcwife76]

Well I'm going to have to change my ticker! We just cancelled/changed our Alaskan cruise to the 7 night Bahama's cruise from Galveston for January 2017. I have NEVER planned a vacation this far in advance ;-) Good thing we can probably afford to go to MAUI as well now in 2016

 

[Angeejoe]

Well I'm going to have to change my ticker! We just cancelled/changed our Alaskan cruise to the 7 night Bahama's cruise from Galveston for January 2017. I have NEVER planned a vacation this far in advance ;-) Good thing we can probably afford to go to MAUI as well now in 2016

Well that's awesome news!!! What's your itinerary?

 

[cruisehopeful]

Nice! I can't wait to hear about the cruise and Maui, if you do a trip report.

 

[bcwife76]

Well that's awesome news!!! What's your itinerary?

It's round trip from Galveston, Texas and goes to Key West FL, Nassau and Castaway Cay. We've never been to Texas or Florida before so that will be new for us, plus Castaway Cay!! Not super excited about Nassau, only because so many people have more negative things to say about it than positive so we'll see if we end up getting off the ship there or not.

Also we'll get to see The Wonder AFTER she's been through DryDock so we'll see what's different from our first time on that beautiful ship

We'll get to Alaska eventually, it's still on the list! But I think it will be with NCL or RCCL instead of The Mouse.

 

[bcwife76]

Nice! I can't wait to hear about the cruise and Maui, if you do a trip report.

Thanks, I'll definitely be doing a second TR on the new cruise as well (heck, I still need to go back and fix the photos on THIS trip report lol)

The friend that we're hoping to rent the condo from is actually in Maui right now, in her condo lol She gets back in a couple of weeks so we just need to double check with her that we can rent the week we're looking at (her calendar seems wide open from early April onwards). Excited to return to Hawaii, haven't been since 2000.

 

[Angeejoe]

It's round trip from Galveston, Texas and goes to Key West FL, Nassau and Castaway Cay. We've never been to Texas or Florida before so that will be new for us, plus Castaway Cay!! Not super excited about Nassau, only because so many people have more negative things to say about it than positive so we'll see if we end up getting off the ship there or not.

Also we'll get to see The Wonder AFTER she's been through DryDock so we'll see what's different from our first time on that beautiful ship

We'll get to Alaska eventually, it's still on the list! But I think it will be with NCL or RCCL instead of The Mouse.

You will love Castaway Cay, it was our favorite port last year. I wish that they had a hotel there!!