Hello eveyone! Pardon me for jumping in ... my wife and I were on the inaugural Alaska cruise. I thought I would provide a little information ... might help you enjoy your cruise a tad more ...
1) During our day crusing through Tracy Arm, there was an Alaskan Salmon Bake (grille) offered in Quite Cove (port side of the ship). I did not recell seeing any notice of this ... and as my luck would have it .. I was on deck 4 taking pictures. On the other hand ... my wife enjoyed the fruits of
DCL's grilling labors!
2) There will be one night featuring an ALASKA menu. One of the more unique items was ELK! We were a party of 6 ... all of us well seasoned cruisers ... but we were a bit cautious about ordering ELK. So, we asked our server if we could have one or two *side* portions of the ELK ... to share amongst the table. IT WAS FABULOUS! It was so good, we asked if we could have it again the next evening (this sort of request generally has to go through the HEAD SERVER).
3) For those taking digital pictures ... make sure you have an EXTREME media card. These are higher quality (more expensive) than some other cards ... and allow you to take picture faster (quicker refresh). This is helpful if you are trying to take multiple shots in a row. The EXTREME cards will also hold up better to the chilly weather.
4) Treasure Ketch shopping: Guests had been waiting outside of Treasure Ketch for a few hours, prior to the doors opening for the first time. What a fiasco! When the doors first opened for sales, there were HOARDS of unruly guests climbing over other guests ... literally grabbing merchandise out of the hands of other guests.
There were only two items which were limited to the inaugural cruise ...
a) Two separate sets of pins (limited to 2000 / each)
b) DCL Alaska 3" Vinylmation (limited to 2500 pieces)
However, the tshirts, baseball caps, totem poles ... ANYTHING with DCL and ALASKA was being grabbed up like you would not believe. People were scarfing up an entire rack of shirts ... several photo albums ... a half dozen Christmas ornaments. The odd part was, these people were just grabbing merchandise ... not knowing whether they wanted to purchase the merchandise.
After the clusterf*** had subsided, DCL had merchandise stocked behind the checkout counter. If you wanted it, you asked for it. Over the next week, DCL would release SOME items in limited quantity, at various times (to give others a fair chance). So, if you miss something ... make sure you stop back, and check often! On SOME items, DCL will only sell "x" quantity of a specific item ... retaining additional pieces to be sold on a future Alaska cruise.
With all of this being said, I would like to ask if someone might be able to do me a favor? I would like to pick up ONE DCL / Alaska Christmas Ornament (DCL, Alaska, blue ball, $9.95). We were only able to get our hands on one ... and there were two families sailing in our stateroom.
I would also like to get ONE ot TWO DCL / Alaska charm bracelet(s). I am not sure how much this cost ... as someone ripped it from my hands when I picked up what was likely the last one being sold on our cruise. I am guessing it would be about $29 ... more or less.
DCL no longer permits anyone to purchase any cruise related items from Orlando Merchandising department. Accordingly, if someone is willing to pick up either (or both) of these items for me ... I would graciously compensate you (via PayPal) for the original cost, plus extra $ for your time and consideration. I would also either pay you for shipping, OR, email you a prepaid shipping label (your choice of USPS or Fed Ex Ground).
The most important thing to tell you is to HAVE FUN! Sit back on Deck 4, and watch Tracy Arm, or the Inside Passage!
Steven (& Donna)
