Welcome Home to the first Seattle-Seattle Alaska Cruise! Can't wait to hear about it!

[Keurigirl]

I hope you guys had a great time! I can't wait to hear about your cruise.

Would love to see any navigators that you care to share with us, too!

 

[TweedleDee/Dum]

I can't wait for details too!!! Any information on your trip would be greatly appreciate. Navigators.. Excursion reports...

 

[geoffrey]

I am wondering if they went up the west side of Vancouver Island in open water or up the east side. Does anyone know?

 

[DisSarahK]

I'm so excited to hear all about it! And see pictures...hint, hint! I hope you all had a marvelous time!

My husband takes the ferry every day...he better remember to take a picture this afternoon of the Wonder!

 

[Deb in IA]

3 more weeks and we will be on that cruise!

I'd love to hear all about it too!

 

[sprylo]

I am wondering if they went up the west side of Vancouver Island in open water or up the east side. Does anyone know?

I watched their departure and arrival on MarineTraffic.com. Both were on the west side of Vancouver Island (in the open ocean).

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I can't wait to hear, too. Hopefully someone will pop on soon. I'm dying to know the show nights and the dining rotations. Also can't wait to hear about weather and excursions...

 

[pixie08]

Welcome back...hope it was great! I'll be on next Mondays

 

[DisSarahK]

Each time someone posts, I pop on to check and see if it is someone who was on the cruise. LOL!

 

[lilbug13]

WELCOME HOME!!!! Can't wait to follow in your footsteps in 2 weeks!

 

[LdyMags]

It was pretty spectacular. Ask away on questions.

Starting, we went up the west side of the Island, it looked like on the map, we came back between the island and mainland.

Our cruise director was Christiaan, assistant was Molly. We had Capt. Fabian.

Rotation was:

Mon: Cruise Cas
Tues: Formal
Wed: Cruise Cas
Thursday:Cruise Cas
Friday: Taste of Alaska menu/Pirate party
Sat: Semi formal
Sun:Cruise Cas

Weather:
Seattle: low 60s, drizzle
Tracy Arm: COLD!! and rainy
Skagway: rain off and on 40s-50s
Juneau - Had some sun (locals were amazed there was sun) 50s
Ketchikan: A lot of rain 40s-50s
Victoria - Sunny (higher 50s)

Disney transportation and hotel were awesome.

 

[drgsjh]

Here's my inquiry: Victoria has me puzzled. We get there so late, it seems like a pain. My family has been to Butchart Gardens and it is amazing. I'd love to take my mom and sister's family that are traveling with us to the gardens but if we do that, we'd be gone from 6-10 on the night before debarkation when you miss the last dinner and you need to be packing and such.

How was that stop? Did you go to the gardens or talk to anyone who did? How did it work out? If you didn't, what did you do?

Thanks!

 

[Calfan]

Rotation was:

Mon: Cruise Cas
Tues: Formal
Wed: Cruise Cas
Thursday:Cruise Cas
Friday: Taste of Alaska menu/Pirate party
Sat: Semi formal
Sun:Cruise Cas

Thanks for the info on the dinner themes. Which MDR rotation did you have? Do you remember which shows were on which nights? We are on the Aug. 6 cruise!

 

[Jcmh]

It was pretty spectacular. Ask away on questions.

Starting, we went up the west side of the Island, it looked like on the map, we came back between the island and mainland.

Our cruise director was Christiaan, assistant was Molly. We had Capt. Fabian.

Rotation was:

Mon: Cruise Cas
Tues: Formal
Wed: Cruise Cas
Thursday:Cruise Cas
Friday: Taste of Alaska menu/Pirate party
Sat: Semi formal
Sun:Cruise Cas

Weather:
Seattle: low 60s, drizzle
Tracy Arm: COLD!! and rainy
Skagway: rain off and on 40s-50s
Juneau - Had some sun (locals were amazed there was sun) 50s
Ketchikan: A lot of rain 40s-50s
Victoria - Sunny (higher 50s)

Disney transportation and hotel were awesome.

The folks on the 5/21 cruise said they weren't able to make it in to Tracy Arm due to ice... sounds like you were? How was it? Were you able to get very close to the glacier or was ice still very thick?

Re: the Taste of Alaska menu... was it the same as what was posted for last year or did they change it up a bit? (we have 2nd seating, which I don't think our kids will endure. Curious if it is worth booking nursery time for or not).

thanks!

 

[LdyMags]

We did go into tracy arm, lots of icebergs but we got I think pretty close, you could see it pretty well. I'm uploading 939 pictures from my memory card so I'll see about getting some posted. Tracy arm was my favorite part of the trip... it was so cold and rainy but it felt like what I thought Alaska should lol.ma

Shows:
Golden Mickeys was on formal night
Dreams was on Saturday night

I didn't see TS the musical so I forget which day that one was.

PS I am pretty sure I'm right on these but I took some meds that made me sleepy so my brain may not be quite on.

 

[tripsmom]

LdyMags - welcome home and thanks for answering questions!

My questions are about the boarding process in Seattle. What time did the port open? Were you held to your arrival time you chose when doing on-line check-in? What time did people actually begin boarding the boat?

Thanks again for the help. We are very excited about getting to Alaska. My children are hoping to see Bald Eagles, whales and maybe even a bear!!!!! The Wonder is just a bonus in their minds!

 

[Jennymom2]

So excited to hear everything!! We are going August 20th. We picked the following excursions. And we are traveling with a 4 and 2 year old.

Skagway- mushers dog camp and sled dog experience

Juneau- deluxe tour of juneau. I'm excited that we will see the glacier, rainforest and salmon hatchery. Hope it's cool. I also wanted to do whale watching but I guess not this time.

Ketchikan- misty fjords floatplane. So excited!

Victoria- horse drawn trolley. On the site is says no one with asthma should do this. Anyone know why? Just because it's really cold?

Questions:
1. Do you see a lot of whales from the ship?
2. Any reviews for the excursions above?

I know I have more questions but I am drawing a blank. Hope y'all had a last! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[LdyMags]

I can't say much about the Seattle boarding process. We booked our hotel and transportation with Disney, so they didn't pick us all up from the hotel and take us to port till 12ish pm. By the time we got there and through check in, they were boarding everyone. We stayed at the Sheraton, which was so lovely. It was only a 10 minute (mostly level) walk to Pikes Place Market and a mile from the space needle.


I know other people saw whales from the ship, I didn't. I did see bald eagles. Easiest way to spot them is look for a white dot on the tree tops, thats their head.

We did whale watching in Juneau - it was ok, we saw whales but it wasn't spectacular.

In Skagway, we took the white pass railway to the Canadian border and back. There was 6 feet of snow up there and it was snowing on us up there too.

Ketchikan - Bear Creek Ziplining- there is a 50 inch height requirement for this one and 60 inches for the eagle one. I reallllly sucked at ziplining so it was not fun for me but my sister nailed it and loved it.

 

[m1ckeym0use1]

We just got back from this cruise. Had a great time and saw some wonderful scenery.

I'm not sure I'll have time to post pictures or navigators, but I'll try to answer any questions I can.

We did get into Tracy Arm. Lots of ice near the end but got a nice view. It was raining lightly the whole time, but we went down to deck 4 to view and it was nice and dry. Also, if you stand near the front of deck 4 where the hallway starts there is warm air blowing out of that hallway. Not sure what it's from (laundry?) but it sure felt nice.

 

[pixarmom]

Thanks so much for the responses!!! We're on the August 27 cruise and really appreciate the information. I'm wondering about DCL transportation from the port to the airport - did it start running early? I'm assuming it's not like the DCL buses to PC, but did they play the DCL video, etc.? Did you have to wait long to get going to the airport once you boarded the bus?

Thanks again!