Pillow family Alaska/Canada Mega Trip!

[KristiMc]

What a great trip Jodie! Thanks for sharing.

 

[pillow]

What a great trip Jodie! Thanks for sharing.

It really was. So glad we went! Hope your cruise was just as fun.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Hi there!! Glad you're reading along. How was your trip? Funny that we were both cruising fjords at the same time - just halfway around the world from one another.

J

Hi Our cruise was simply amazing and dare I say - it surpassed Alaska as our favorite cruise so now you have a new goal, lol We were gone almost 3 weeks and visited 7 countries so we were exhausted but no regrets and again, the cruise was simply amazing!

I just finished reading your entire thread and wow - brings back lots of great memories of Alaska for us in 2013. I booked 8/2016 on opening day but we *might* cancel it if DCL has a "decent" Med cruise for 2017. Not sure the budget could afford both but we'll see when prices are release (GASP!).

I was so excited reading about your verandah score! I'm glad you enjoyed it and loved all your pictures. You have an adorable family and I loved your report!

Ps. When is the next cruise?

Heather

 

[pillow]

Hi Our cruise was simply amazing and dare I say - it surpassed Alaska as our favorite cruise so now you have a new goal, lol We were gone almost 3 weeks and visited 7 countries so we were exhausted but no regrets and again, the cruise was simply amazing!

I just finished reading your entire thread and wow - brings back lots of great memories of Alaska for us in 2013. I booked 8/2016 on opening day but we *might* cancel it if DCL has a "decent" Med cruise for 2017. Not sure the budget could afford both but we'll see when prices are release (GASP!).

I was so excited reading about your verandah score! I'm glad you enjoyed it and loved all your pictures. You have an adorable family and I loved your report!

Ps. When is the next cruise?

Heather

Thank you! We are doing a 4 night spring break cruise on the Magic in March (DD is bringing a friend since DS will be in college). No more BIG trips for a while since DS starts college (in 12 days - we are all counting down - yikes), and we will be poor - lol.

I was reading Disneyfaninaz's awesome TR, and I have to admit, it made me look up Norwegian Fjords cruises. The scenery is just so beautiful! Maybe in 2017?? (Probably not, but I can dream right?) I'm so glad you had a great trip. I can certainly understand why!!

I have a friend who just finished doing some independent travel in Iceland. Flights are relatively inexpensive (and direct from Dulles), so I have to admit that intrigues me as well. But it will be a while . . . Its fun to look though.

Jodie

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

I just found your trip report and have absolutely loved it! We are sailing on the Wonder next June. I may have missed this somewhere in my excitement about all of the wildlife photos, but did you share what kind of camera you used? I am thinking I may need a new one for our trip.

Thanks!

Laurie

 

[pillow]

I just found your trip report and have absolutely loved it! We are sailing on the Wonder next June. I may have missed this somewhere in my excitement about all of the wildlife photos, but did you share what kind of camera you used? I am thinking I may need a new one for our trip.

Thanks!

Laurie

So glad you enjoyed it! I have a Canon 60D with an 18-200mm lens. If you want to see even better pics, take a look at Disneyfaninaz's recent trip report. Excellent photos! She uses a Nikon D5000 with a 18-300 Zoom. Both are good cameras. Whatever you buy should have a sports mode for getting the whale pics. Let me know of you have any other questions. Have fun planning!

Jodie

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Thanks, Jodie!!!

Laurie

 

[YayDisney]

Thank you thank you thank you for taking the time to do this! We sail this Monday and I literally cannot concentrate because I am so excited. Your report was so comprehensive and helpful. Glad you had a great trip. and I am loving this French press idea.

 

[pillow]

Thank you thank you thank you for taking the time to do this! We sail this Monday and I literally cannot concentrate because I am so excited. Your report was so comprehensive and helpful. Glad you had a great trip. and I am loving this French press idea.

You're welcome, and I'm so glad it helped you. Hope you have a great trip! Wish we were going again.

Jodie

 

[jec6613]

So glad you enjoyed it! I have a Canon 60D with an 18-200mm lens. If you want to see even better pics, take a look at Disneyfaninaz's recent trip report. Excellent photos! She uses a Nikon D5000 with a 18-300 Zoom. Both are good cameras. Whatever you buy should have a sports mode for getting the whale pics. Let me know of you have any other questions. Have fun planning!

Any reasonably modern DSLR should do quite well for Alaska - even though the D5000 and 60D aren't brand new cameras, and 18-200 and 18-300 lenses aren't the highest quality, for wildlife in the summer you don't need to worry about some monster wide aperture lens or state of the art camera. Even the entry level Nikon, Canon and Pentax are pretty amazing nowadays, and most mirrorless systems are just as good with one exception: if you go to Denali, you want long telephoto, and the DSLR systems (particularly Nikon and Canon) have really long ones you can rent for reasonable prices for the few days you'd be there.

As an example of why you want a super telephoto in Denali, this is the long end of a 300mm zoom lens on a D5100 (so 450mm equivalent), and heavily cropped to get mother bear and her cubs ... this is all the detail there is, and I certainly wouldn't want to be any closer!

 

[pillow]

Any reasonably modern DSLR should do quite well for Alaska - even though the D5000 and 60D aren't brand new cameras, and 18-200 and 18-300 lenses aren't the highest quality, for wildlife in the summer you don't need to worry about some monster wide aperture lens or state of the art camera. Even the entry level Nikon, Canon and Pentax are pretty amazing nowadays, and most mirrorless systems are just as good with one exception: if you go to Denali, you want long telephoto, and the DSLR systems (particularly Nikon and Canon) have really long ones you can rent for reasonable prices for the few days you'd be there.

As an example of why you want a super telephoto in Denali, this is the long end of a 300mm zoom lens on a D5100 (so 450mm equivalent), and heavily cropped to get mother bear and her cubs ... this is all the detail there is, and I certainly wouldn't want to be any closer!View attachment 115473

Thats really great info to know (I never thought about renting a lens). Your pic reminds me of mine from Yellowstone a few years back where you're just too far away to get a great clear shots of the bears.

Jodie

 

[jec6613]

Thats really great info to know (I never thought about renting a lens). Your pic reminds me of mine from Yellowstone a few years back where you're just too far away to get a great clear shots of the bears.

Jodie

Here's where I rent from: http://www.lensrentals.com/rent/nikon/lenses/supertelephoto

For Alaska, I'd probably get at least the Nikon 200-400 for my own use, and perhaps even the 600 f/4, but I already own the necessary monopod and teleconverters to really make it sing and extend the reach to where I'd want it. The Sigma 300-800, or even the Nikon 200-500, are both other excellent choices, and all of them (the 200-500 in particular) are cheap to rent. Plus, they can ship it direct to Denali, and you can send it back from there or wherever your next destination is, so you don't have to carry it for the rest of the trip when you don't need it.

 

[marisol72]

Hi Jody, loved your trip report. We are sailing on the wonder on july 18th 2016. We will definitely try to go to Whistler a least for a day. One quick question, we are from South America so my kids have never seen/touched snow in their lives. I see from your pictures that some peaks at Whistler still have some snow, can you get to it so my kids can touch it?

 

[pillow]

Hi Jody, loved your trip report. We are sailing on the wonder on july 18th 2016. We will definitely try to go to Whistler a least for a day. One quick question, we are from South America so my kids have never seen/touched snow in their lives. I see from your pictures that some peaks at Whistler still have some snow, can you get to it so my kids can touch it?

Probably the easiest thing would be to take the Peak to Peak gondola. Once you go across to Blackcomb mountain, you can take a chair lift up even higher on the mountain. You can actually see people skiing up there in July. http://www.whistler.com/activities/summer-skiing/

J

 

[marisol72]

Probably the easiest thing would be to take the Peak to Peak gondola. Once you go across to Blackcomb mountain, you can take a chair lift up even higher on the mountain. You can actually see people skiing up there in July. http://www.whistler.com/activities/summer-skiing/

J

My Kids will be thrilled

 

[xlxo]

We are sailing on the wonder on july 18th 2016. We will definitely try to go to Whistler a least for a day. One quick question, we are from South America so my kids have never seen/touched snow in their lives. I see from your pictures that some peaks at Whistler still have some snow, can you get to it so my kids can touch it?

On my previous visits... Queen Elsa usually leaves a patch by the Blackcomb Peak 2 Peak gondola station in my visits.

 

[anricat]

Great trip report! I've been obsessively reading trip reports in anticipation of our upcoming trip in August. We can't wait!

We have that EXACT same flight to Minneapolis at 6:40 AM. Like you, we are also going to be staying overnight at the Fairmont so we can roll out of bed, but still, ouch. It's going to be painful. Hopefully our connection to Austin goes smoothly, unlike your connection home!

 

[pillow]

Great trip report! I've been obsessively reading trip reports in anticipation of our upcoming trip in August. We can't wait!

We have that EXACT same flight to Minneapolis at 6:40 AM. Like you, we are also going to be staying overnight at the Fairmont so we can roll out of bed, but still, ouch. It's going to be painful. Hopefully our connection to Austin goes smoothly, unlike your connection home!

Thank you. Our trip was fantastic, and I LOVED the Fairmont (totally spoiled us). I hope you have a wonderful time!

 

[Bluecat74]

this builds anticipation for the Wonder!