5/31/11 -- Chilling on the Wonder

[shwarren70]

Well... I no longer have to stress about spoiling the "Christmas surprise" for my dad...

I think I had posted earlier that my mom was giving this trip to my dad for Christmas. We've had it planned and booked since the summer. I've almost messed up and said something about it several times. My dad knows that we are going, but nothing about the surprise.

Well today, on the way home, he tells my mom he needs to talk to her about something. And, then he says, "well I need to talk to you and Stephanie about something. I was thinking, how would you like to go to Alaska for your 60th birthday? Because, if you would, we need to talk to Stephanie and see if she cares if we go with them." My mom busted out laughing, and says "I don't think she would mind. That sounds good to me." And was like "well, I don't want her to think we are intruding." And then she said, "Well, she won't because she's already booked it for me to give you for Christmas. The cruise is booked, the plane tickets are booked, and the hotel is booked before hand." They looked at each other and said "Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday." It is amazing how many times they are on the same page about doing things. LOL! So, I'm glad I don't have to keep a secret anymore.

 

[4boons]

Well... I no longer have to stress about spoiling the "Christmas surprise" for my dad...

I think I had posted earlier that my mom was giving this trip to my dad for Christmas. We've had it planned and booked since the summer. I've almost messed up and said something about it several times. My dad knows that we are going, but nothing about the surprise.

Well today, on the way home, he tells my mom he needs to talk to her about something. And, then he says, "well I need to talk to you and Stephanie about something. I was thinking, how would you like to go to Alaska for your 60th birthday? Because, if you would, we need to talk to Stephanie and see if she cares if we go with them." My mom busted out laughing, and says "I don't think she would mind. That sounds good to me." And was like "well, I don't want her to think we are intruding." And then she said, "Well, she won't because she's already booked it for me to give you for Christmas. The cruise is booked, the plane tickets are booked, and the hotel is booked before hand." They looked at each other and said "Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday." It is amazing how many times they are on the same page about doing things. LOL! So, I'm glad I don't have to keep a secret anymore.

Great story. Thanks for sharing.

 

[CrazyBoutDisney]

Well, after watching the Dream float out yesterday, DH & I got to talking. Seems both of us have been thinking about how we'd rather do a Dream cruise instead of going to Alaska right now. Money is tight and there are just so many things we'd want to do up north--a couple of days in Vancouver, whale watching, the train in Skagway, panning for gold, etc, etc. So, we've decided to keep saving for Alaska and we traded in this cruise for the Dream's first double dip.

Have a WONDERful cruise!

 

[aldapl]

I just booked this cruise tonight. It will be myself and my DS(10).

 

[4boons]

I just booked this cruise tonight. It will be myself and my DS(10).

Welcome aboard.
The thread has been a little slow but I expect it to pick up when we can start booking shore excursions.
Bill

 

[4boons]

Well, after watching the Dream float out yesterday, DH & I got to talking. Seems both of us have been thinking about how we'd rather do a Dream cruise instead of going to Alaska right now. Money is tight and there are just so many things we'd want to do up north--a couple of days in Vancouver, whale watching, the train in Skagway, panning for gold, etc, etc. So, we've decided to keep saving for Alaska and we traded in this cruise for the Dream's first double dip.

Have a WONDERful cruise!

Sorry you won't be with us in Alaska but I understand.
We hope to do the Dream in 2011 also.
Bill

 

[NSDisneyGirl]

Well everyone, we've past the 200 day mark Only 197 days until we set sail! I can't wait for the shore excursions to be announced so we can really start planning

 

[gduvall]

Well everyone, we've past the 200 day mark Only 197 days until we set sail! I can't wait for the shore excursions to be announced so we can really start planning

my count down clock still says 201 days, I like yours much better. Yours may be counting extra days before your cruise.

 

[NSDisneyGirl]

my count down clock still says 201 days, I like yours much better. Yours may be counting extra days before your cruise.

Oops! You're right - sorry Still exciting though!

 

[gduvall]

absolutely, I changed my count down to include the two days before the cruise, when our flight actually leaves. So we're at 199. Just had to break the 200 mark.

 

[rebeccak971]

This is my first cruise and all, but am I right in thinking DCL is leaving it a little late to announce the shore excursions for Alaska? How far in advance do they usually announce them for new itineraries?

 

[auntlynne]

I was checking on an activity we want to do in Alaska - zip-lining; I contacted Alaska Canopy Adventures the other day to see if we could book directly and they said they had just received their contract from DCL to provide this activity. That's one shore excursion we know we'll be hoping to sign up for early.

If you watch Travel Channel, you may have seen them on Extreme Alaska activities.

 

[auntlynne]

This is my first cruise and all, but am I right in thinking DCL is leaving it a little late to announce the shore excursions for Alaska? How far in advance do they usually announce them for new itineraries?

The Mexican Riviera cruises start on Jan 23. The shore excursions showed up around Aug 17, just a little over 5 months in advance. I think we will know what they are offering before our Final Payment date (the end of January).

 

[Mary Ellen]

Hello - DH and I just booked this yesterday. We've done 5 Alaskan cruises before, but this will be our first DCL cruise. We're excited about trying a new cruise line.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Hello - DH and I just booked this yesterday. We've done 5 Alaskan cruises before, but this will be our first DCL cruise. We're excited about trying a new cruise line.

Welcome, Mary Ellen!

 

[Mary Ellen]

Why thank you, Disneyfalcon. Good to be here.

 

[4boons]

Hello - DH and I just booked this yesterday. We've done 5 Alaskan cruises before, but this will be our first DCL cruise. We're excited about trying a new cruise line.

Welcome aboard.
Would appreciate any advice you have to pass on about Alaska.
Bill, Laura and Katie

 

[shwarren70]

Hello - DH and I just booked this yesterday. We've done 5 Alaskan cruises before, but this will be our first DCL cruise. We're excited about trying a new cruise line.

Welcome aboard... Would love to hear any advice from your previous Alaskan cruises.

 

[Mary Ellen]

One our favorite things we've done on other cruises was to rent a car in Skagway and drive up into the Yukon. There is beautiful scenery along the way to gorgeous Emerald Lake, where we turned around. It was 1.5-2 hrs. each way IIRC. Plenty of time to do a leisurely trip with our 12+ hrs there. It would have been another hour or so each way to continue on to Whitehorse, but the scenery isn't supposed to be as nice on this portion, so we didn't do this. You'll need to bring your passports for the border crossings and the driver can't have a Canadian driver's license. Apparently it is illegal for Canadians to drive U.S. registered cars in Canada and some have reported being turned back to Skagway at the border.

The other big thing in Skagway is the White Pass RR. We've done that and enjoyed the trip.

In Juneau our preference is to take the city bus out to Mendenhall Glacier. MUCH less $ than the cruise line's shore ex and you have more time to spend there.

Last time in Ketchikan we took a boat tour out to Misty Fjords National Park. The weather was beautiful (our 1st time there without rain) and we saw lots of whales along the way.

I've found the Alaska 'Ports of Call' forum on the Cruise Critic to be very helpful.

Be ready with layered clothing. It can be nice and warm (we've rarely had this) or cold and wet (more the norm). Actually we've had better weather in the May/June cruises than later in the summer. We're taking knit hats and gloves. One thing we don't cruise without is silk long underwear. They take up NO space and fit quite nicely under our regular clothes. Jeans we don't take. They take too long to dry if you get wet and they weigh more compared to Dockers and the silk long johns.

If there is anything specific just ask. I might know.

This trip we're not planning on doing much off the ship. We booked because our banked DVC points have to be used by the end of September. Since this our first time on DCL we're going to enjoy the ship. I am very curious though to see what Disney offers in shore ex though. In the Med they have some NICE tours I haven't seen on other lines. Maybe they'll have something new for us here.

I must say that as a first time cruiser on DCL, they are making us feel quite unwelcome. Not being able to book Palo or shore ex until 75-days out, while others can book starting at 120-days. Not a good thing. We'd like to try Palo, but not holding our breath.

 

[pouncingpluto]

Mary Ellen, I don't think you should have too much trouble booking Palo at 75-days out, honestly. Certain time slots will be taken, but there should be plenty of availability. And since no one knows their dining rotation, there's always a lot of last minute shuffling of reservations once people get on board.

Anyway, hi guys! I'm new to the thread. We booked this back in August, but with the final payment due in a month, I guess it's time to get serious!

We will be the crazy people bringing our 3-month old on her first cruise. Yes, that's right, that means I haven't actually had the baby yet. I'm 32 1/2 weeks pregnant, due February 17. (And, yes, we got the travel insurance!) I'm an associate at a law firm (i.e., I work a lot), and I wanted to take advantage of my maternity leave to take a nice family vacation with no interruptions.

Our original plan was to fly to Vancouver on Saturday, 5/28 (Seattle just seems like too much of a hassle to me, especially with the baby, despite the fact that Vancouver airfare from the DC area is ridiculous), but I've discovered that we have enough miles to cover the trip if we fly on Sunday, 5/29 instead. So, we'll probably do that. No hotel reservation yet... I'll probably wait until significantly closer to the time, given the uncertainty the baby introduces.

We will have early dining... but we are going to play it by ear and just do the casual dining or in-room dining whenever we need to. (Again, bc of the baby!)