9 Nights In The Wild Frontier!

[Arizona Rita]

Hi!
I decided to write a trip report for two reasons,
1) When I was looking for trip reports to read to get excited and in the mood for Alaska there were only a couple and I ended up reading each a couple of times. They were good, especially Andrew Porter's ( a friend) but I wanted more of them. So I thought I would help my own cause!
2) I love scrapbooking, I hate journaling! When we took the Baltic Inaugural I wrote a trip report for that and I had my story down and I only had to write smaller amounts of details for my books.

Cast of Characters~
Rita~ Disneyphile~ Mom
Chris~ puts up with his Disneyphile wife~ Dad
Eric~can hold his own and sometimes best his Disneyfile mom~ DS 20
Lauren~ Photographer, knows her Disney ~ DD17

We live in semesters, DH is a librarian at a community college, DS is a college senior and DD will be a senior in hs. We live in semesters. See why?
This semester was one heck of a semester. ( I should also say that I am a student studying events management. We are all in school!)
Not long after the semester (Jan) began we had to move MIL to a nursing home, found an absolutely beautiful one.
Feb 13th, I fell on our kitchen floor and broke my arm, the week after that MIL fell and broke her hip. DH, truly a wonderful man was kept so busy that between work and taking care of mil, me, and work I honestly didnt know when he was going to go crazy!
MIL gets pneumonia while in hospital. So each time we think we get to move her back to the "ranch" poor thing gets sick again.
Let me just say that MIL was the type of person you would do anything for. I always felt that God hand picked her for my MIL. So anytime that DH had to spend with her I wanted him to. It also sets a good example for our kids.
There were times in all of this that I honestly was expecting DH to say that we had to cancel Alaska.
I had to have a hyrnia surgery in mid April. That was Friday. On Monday (again! (We had gotten mom back out to the "ranch")) Mom was taken to the hospital and we ended up moving her to a hospice.
The day before Easter Mom was called home.
After everything was done and we finally made it home, DH went and got the mail. In that mail was our first set of cruise documents.
I think Mom wanted Chris to got to Alaska.
So the semester is over for everyone and we get ready to go and the next chapter is "Arizona Rita Visits Storybrooke"!

 

[Arizona Rita]

STORYBROOKE

When we booked the cruise and we knew it was sailing from Vancouver we also knew that there was no way we were not going to Steveton!
Hi, my name is Rita, and I am a Oncer!
Watched Once Upon A Time from the beginning. Have seasons 1, 2 and soon to be 3 on boxed sets of DVDs. I ship Rumbelle, Swanfire and CaptainSwan and Snowing. Wish they would bring back Nova for Grumpy. And there are 2 sessions at Phx Comi-con for Onccers this weekend and plan on going to both.
Yep, got it bad.

Got to Vancouver, no problems, got the car and took off for Steveton.
Nice little drive out to Monckton Street, turn right and before long the Cannery came into view before I even realized that I was on "the" street.
I think I must have just sat there in shock before DH decided to park because we saw the visitors center and went in for information.
They were very nice and told us that everything closes about five, the ice cream store was closed and we could get filming maps at the Candy Dish candy store.
We went to the candy store and they had the same set up that you Miss Sarahs had had of making a donation to their animal shelter for two dollars for a map. We bought one of those and candy and started walking.
We saw Marine Garage which is across the street from the library which is actually across the street from Gold's shop.
The street is actually alot smaller than it looks on the show.
We saw where Neil was playing swords with Henry and Gold tells Regina that they are related.
We walked the pier where they film shipping scenes. It is a fishing port where you can take boats out to whale watch (no, not Dr Whale!) and alot of local fishermen were selling the days catch when we were there.
When we got back to Golds shop let me just say that it was what I can imagine Flora, Fauna and Merriwether plus Blue turning his shop into if they could get a hold of it. I did not go all the way in. But I touched the door handle, ran my hands along the edge where I know Robert has been and have a photo of me hugging the wall.
I tried to open the library door the way Belle did. DD said "Mom, you saw that just open!" I said thats not what Im doing then she said "oohhhh" and got it.
I stood in the middle of the road where many big sceens were/are filmed.
I walked the sidewalk in the "Welcome To Storybrooke" episode.
I bought the bread from the Romanian baker and the tee shirt from the visitors center.
This was my shore excursion!
There will be photos later!
(We also saw Grannys and Archies office and the animal shelter).
The one thing we didnt do and later wished we had was eat dinner there. I thought that Chris wanted to turn the car in earlier and wanted to get back so I thought we should leave. Turns out he would have been happy to eat there.
So if anyone gets to have a Storybrooke moment, I think you should take the time to eat there.


As easy as it was to drive there, it was not an easy drive back. We hit rush hour in downtown Vancouver. Ive never been to Manhattan but Vancouver has been used to represent Manhattan in Once and many other films/tv shows. Chris is an excellent driver and this I think even bothered him and made Lauren say that she does not want to live in the city.
We finally made it to the hotel. We stayed at Canada Place.
I think the hotel is beautiful, well appointed and we had a great view.
If you are only staying for one night and one of your kids doesnt mind sleeping on a couch type, love seat, which was very comfortable I think one room works just fine. We got two rooms not knowing of this "couchy" type thing. I will post a photo so you know what Im talking about. Lauren would have been just fine.
Also, I didnt even think about this and would have taken the short walk but the Olympic Flame for the Vancouver olympics is maybe a block away!
There were many theories as to why our cruise did not get to leave from Canada Place and had to leave from Ballentyne and that really doesnt matter now but for the rest of your cruisers this summer you are in for a treat.
Your view will be incredible and I dont think you can be closer.
Take the time to walk around the outside of the hotel and enjoy the views.
So we didnt get to embark there but I got to see two other large ships that I may never see again. I did see the Wonder the next morning pulling into Ballentyne, further away but I did see it.
Chris returned the car and it took longer than me and the kids though it should and were starting to worry. Then we started making jokes about it.
The best was, and it shows Lauren is her fathers daughter, when she said "Yeah, but the cruise is paid for, so we're still going right?"
Chris walked in about that time.
Its Friday night and the restaurant at the hotel just didnt sound good so we decided to walk over to the "Food Court" across the street. Seriously the only thing open on a Friday night is the McDonalds and a juice place? I realize its downtown but it seemed like there were alot of teens hanging out down there and that they might want more open unless the food court was designed just around the businesses offices there.
Again, eat in Steveton!
Night was uneventful.
The next morning we went to Tim Hortons and got breakfast sandwiches and donuts and I had a White chocolate hot chocolate which tasted like if a Lindt white chocolate candy was a warm liquid. Glad I tried it but wouldnt have it again.
When we went downstairs to either find out if DCL had transport or we had to get a taxi we found that they had indeed arranged transportation.
We had booked our port time right at the moment you could do that make in the early part of the year but because of the miscommunications and all our boarding time was group 8!!
Now I read in "The 4 Woods" tr that someone told them they were silver and just get in line. Im Gold baby and will try that next time!!
(See, I can learn from your trip report too!)
It wasnt a bad wait, just fustrating! Saw Nakoma and Wendy while waiting.
Am I getting on the ship and do I have a room? All I care about!

Newt Up: Now welcoming Zagar Family!

 

[mrp4352]

Hi!! I'm subscribing! It was a fantastic cruise, wasn't it!

 

[Arizona Rita]

So after what seemed like forever, group 8 got to board and they made "the" announcement.
We were hungry so we headed straight for Parrot Cay. They tried to turn us away and told us Goofys and Plutos were open and after I told them that we didnt mind waiting we were seated within just a couple of minutes.
We had our buffet lunch and after we ate it was almost 1:30 so we headed out to find our cabins.
We got two cabins this cruise. With the kids being older we feel we can and need to do that now. We tried on the last two cruises with the cabins being connected and this time they were across the hall and down a bit from each other.
We had one inside and one verandah. Dad and Mom pay so we get the outside.
They were welcome and did come over many times. At first Eric didnt like the inside, no porthole and no double bathroom. He got over it soon enough.
We asked him at the end of the trip what he thought and he was ok with it.
Cruise or no cruise, he would take the inside.
We set the rooms up immediately with everything put away so the cabins could and would be home for the next nine nights.
We learned the hard way with our first cruise and never went back. Always unpack first thing as soon as you get your luggage.
While we were waiting for the luggage Lauren went off to find the friends she had made, Im not sure what Eric did and Chris waited for the luggage and unpacked as it came.
I wandered around deck 10 and the Sail Away party soon started. I did not bring my camera and where I was standing was where the characters were coming out of for the party. Eric found me and we were given tinsel sticks (my words for them) and then Eric and I went back to the cabins where we found Lauren and it was almost time for the safety drill.
You no longer have to bring your life jackets to the drill but they suggest trying them on in your cabins, which we did.
Went to the drill which was in AP this time. I prefer my station to be on an outside deck because then at least you have the view.
After that, back to the cabins to get ready for dinner.
We had PTA rotation and at first Eric was not happy as we have always had AP first.

We try to encourage the kids to try new foods on the cruises we take because the food is already paid for and you can have more than one entre.
We have never had tablemates before.
Well.... This time it was Chris trying something new because when we arrived at AP we were seated at an 8 top and I told Chris that we would have tablemates.
We turned out to be lucky. For the first time of having tablemates we had an awesome family, Mom, Dad and 18 yo daughter who hit it off with the kids immediately. Parents are both in education. Dad pin trades/collects, so does Lauren. They are platinum cruises and have been on many of the same type of cruises as us.
It just worked really well!

I think the only reason I still go to the "All Aboard~ Let the magic begin" show is to see who the cruise director is and hear the announcement. It's the same show and they really need to update it.
After the show I think we just turned in.

I will be posting photos, yes Ive already said that, but I will also talk about the food and show photos of menus and food too.

Next up~ Two days at sea!

 

[Arizona Rita]

SEA DAYS

We love sea days. We find them relaxing and can watch the ocean for hours.
DCL has just enough programming for us without being overwhelming and having to make too many choices.

Day 2~ Golden Mickeys~ Formal Night
Woke up early, got my first set of FEs together and went delivering.
Had a bit of breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet. Came back and got ready to go to the DVC presentation. This time they talked about Aulani and the new bridge at Saratoga and the new shopping area.
We are fans of Trivia and today was the first round of trivia.
This is when we first met Andy!
OMG! You have to experience Andy to understand Andy. He is like Graham Norton and an English version of Robin Williams combined.
There will be many more references of Andy throughout this report.
Next to Travis, Andy is so far the only other cruise host who has stood the test of time. Yes, its only been a couple of days, but Andy is unforgettable!
We went to several versions of Trivia today. There was another family who also went to Trivia games. There was 4 of them. We consistantly came in 2nd to them. Eric started saying he wanted this keychain they were giving out as the prize.
This keychain, I think they took all of the old CC gifts and took all of the keychains out and are using those because its the same design. I kept telling Eric we had several at home and his response was its not the same! Ugh!
Lauren said she saw whales today. I havent seen any yet.
Tonight is formal night and the Golden Mickeys.
Dinner was good and I always like this show.
Our tablemates are foodies. They think nothing of ordering several things per person and they kept encouraging Eric to try new things. They got him to eat asparagus! Their DD takes food pics too. This just works so well.
After the show, when we got back to our cabin I ordered the first of several "All Hands On Deck". The cheese plate with crackers and a bit of fruit for garnish, usually grapes. This plate has in the past and will in the future served me well. Because of stomach issues I always cant eat everything and then I get hungry and DCL has eliminated unnecessary snacks in certain areas. So the plate is just perfect.

Day 3~Pacific Rim menu ~ Magic Dave
The next morning I decided to go to the character breakfast, just to get photos, not so much to eat as we had Palo brunch ressies at 1130.
Today we had Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto. By the time Pluto got to me someone had spotted a whale! I saw my first whale of the cruise. Pluto, who had just gotten to me whale watched with me until his handler told him that they had other friends to meet and they could whale watch later.

Palos brunch is the best. I think I actually even prefer them over their dinner.
I dont imagine it would would be this way for the Caribbean but they have closed off the walkway in front of the Palos windows and have a sign that reads something like "Reserved for Palo diners", which, especially for Alaska I think is really nice.
Went back to the cabin and we may have napped if not just rested because we had a 3:30 couples massage scheduled.
The woman I had, unfortunately i dont remember her name, was great, really strong hands and I think it was the deepest massage Ive ever had. I think she may have bruised my feet because my feet for several days after hurt.
But everything else, although sore at first, felt great.
Sometimes I get where everything in my body just says "I'm done". All it wants to do is collapse.
So at dinner tonight I was exhausted. Our tablemates were like "are you ok, what did you do" I barely ordered dinner and when I told them what we did today they were like "Brunch and a massage? Well, no wonder!"
"Magic Dave" was tonight entertainment. He was ok. Really nothing special.
After this I went back to the cabin to collapse.

Net Up~ Sitka!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Hi neighbor, subscribing to your report. It was great to meet you and see you around the ship. DD had a great time with Lauren.

 

[Arizona Rita]

Hi Wendy! Great meeting you too! and Lauren had fun with McKenna.
Nakoma and I discussed have lunch sometime so we will let you know!

 

[jetskigrl]

Following along....

I love that you got to visit Storybrooke I love that show too. We have one full day in Vancouver but I don't think I could talk my group into doing that with me. But that would be so fun!

I'm looking forward to the rest of the report

 

[Arizona Rita]

Hey All!
Just wanted to say that over on the Alaska Shore Excursion thread I just posted a long winded review of our shore excursions. In case anyone wants to read that too.

Also, I forgot to mention that one embarkation day we had our FB/FE meet and greet and there were so many people there! It was great to see and meet many of you.
Moon Daughter did a fantastic job of organizing and arranging everything and I just want to sat thank you to her again!

 

[Arizona Rita]

Sitka~ Day 4~ Pacific Rim Cuisine~ Robert Creighton

Today we would have our first shore excursion.
It is about a 15 minute drive into town from the port. i decided I wanted to go into town early and se ethe town and Lauren decide to go with me. Chris and Eric would meet us at the visitors Center where our excursion would leave from.
It was a pretty drive up the shore line and to town and it was interesting seeing the different types of homes next to each other. The town had provided curtesy shuttles into town.
When we got off the bus we were greeted by ladies dressed in costume for the Russian dance show and as we walked up the boardwalk we were greeted by more ladies dressed in turn of the century costumes of what they would have worn. I think they were from the historical society.
Lauren and I walked to the visitors center and went into the little museum they have there. As we were leaving the museum an employee was putting out a sign that said there was a recommended donation of $3.00. There was no box out or anything like that and it made me wonder if all of a sudden someone got the idea to get donations. So if you see something like that just know it wasnt there in the beginning.
We walked over to St Michaels Russian Church and looked around there for awhile. It was very interesting, very Russian (of course!) and reminded me of the Blood Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
And then shopped. Chris drinks Diet Dr Pepper and the store we went in to actually had it. So we picked up a couple of bottles for him, fudge for Eric and "things" for me and Lauren.
After shopping we went back over to the VC and took lots of photos. After awhile it got cold and we went back inside the VC to wait for the boys.
After they got there and it was time Chris checked us in and we had to wait for Dis to call our group.
Our excursion was called the "Jet-Cat Wildlife Quest and Beach Exploration".
The catamaran was very comfortable, nice seat and temperture.
Our guides name was Mary and she was very nice but didnt have a loud enough voice even with a mic.
We saw a few whales going out to the island where we would have our nature hike.
The island is part of the Tongass National forest and was very pretty. We were guided around the island and Mary pointed out a few things and told about the "nurse"trees and things. She handed out baggies for anyone who wanted to take shells back with them.
Unlike Hawaii, Alaska allows you to actually take what you find home.
I found a piece of sea glass for Lauren. Mary showed us what crabs look like when they shed their shells. That was about it.
When we got back on the catamaran we started heading back out in the water and we were not too off shore when we spotted a young whale.
He was actually playing. He kept surfacing and diving and repeated it several times! He ws like a kid putting on a show. i told Chris I was naming him "Chet" after the young reindeer in "The Santa Clause" with Tim Allen.
We watched him for a good while and then we had to leae that area and head back.
I dont remember if we saw any more after that.
I think the best hot chocolate I had this cruise was on this boat. It was really good. They gave us some local snacks, like seaweed pickles and salmon jams to try. The kids had muffins. Chickens!
We went back to the ship after that.
I ordered my "All Hands On Deck" and I think the others got something from Pinocchio's or Plutos. We didnt want something really big because dinner wasnt that far off.
I wanted to make these cute "Do you want to build a snowman" kits for Tracy Arm day. We decide to just make them on the ship because it would be easier to bring everything with us than try to male them at home and figure out how to pack them especially since this was the thing I was going to try to give everyone.
I had been working on them a little bit and realized that tomorrow was TA day!
So we spent the time before dinner putting, I think I ended up with, 90 of these kits! I hope people liked them. We did get them done.
We went to dinner and again enjoyed the company of our tablemates.
I really had no interest in seeing the show. Chris and I went back to the cabin and I think this may have been the night we actually got to see "Monuments Men" from beginning to the end.
The review the kids gave the show was extremely poor and in essence told me that I had missed nothing.
I was really beginning to wonder what was happening with Disney entertainment. But the best was yet to come. I truly mean that.

Next Up~ Trace Arm!

 

[Flattes]

Sitka~ Day 4~ Pacific Rim Cuisine~ Robert Creighton

Today we would have our first shore excursion.
It is about a 15 minute drive into town from the port. i decided I wanted to go into town early and se ethe town and Lauren decide to go with me. Chris and Eric would meet us at the visitors Center where our excursion would leave from.
It was a pretty drive up the shore line and to town and it was interesting seeing the different types of homes next to each other. The town had provided curtesy shuttles into town.
When we got off the bus we were greeted by ladies dressed in costume for the Russian dance show and as we walked up the boardwalk we were greeted by more ladies dressed in turn of the century costumes of what they would have worn. I think they were from the historical society.
Lauren and I walked to the visitors center and went into the little museum they have there. As we were leaving the museum an employee was putting out a sign that said there was a recommended donation of $3.00. There was no box out or anything like that and it made me wonder if all of a sudden someone got the idea to get donations. So if you see something like that just know it wasnt there in the beginning.
We walked over to St Michaels Russian Church and looked around there for awhile. It was very interesting, very Russian (of course!) and reminded me of the Blood Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
And then shopped. Chris drinks Diet Dr Pepper and the store we went in to actually had it. So we picked up a couple of bottles for him, fudge for Eric and "things" for me and Lauren.
After shopping we went back over to the VC and took lots of photos. After awhile it got cold and we went back inside the VC to wait for the boys.
After they got there and it was time Chris checked us in and we had to wait for Dis to call our group.
Our excursion was called the "Jet-Cat Wildlife Quest and Beach Exploration".
The catamaran was very comfortable, nice seat and temperture.
Our guides name was Mary and she was very nice but didnt have a loud enough voice even with a mic.
We saw a few whales going out to the island where we would have our nature hike.
The island is part of the Tongass National forest and was very pretty. We were guided around the island and Mary pointed out a few things and told about the "nurse"trees and things. She handed out baggies for anyone who wanted to take shells back with them.
Unlike Hawaii, Alaska allows you to actually take what you find home.
I found a piece of sea glass for Lauren. Mary showed us what crabs look like when they shed their shells. That was about it.
When we got back on the catamaran we started heading back out in the water and we were not too off shore when we spotted a young whale.
He was actually playing. He kept surfacing and diving and repeated it several times! He ws like a kid putting on a show. i told Chris I was naming him "Chet" after the young reindeer in "The Santa Clause" with Tim Allen.
We watched him for a good while and then we had to leae that area and head back.
I dont remember if we saw any more after that.
I think the best hot chocolate I had this cruise was on this boat. It was really good. They gave us some local snacks, like seaweed pickles and salmon jams to try. The kids had muffins. Chickens!
We went back to the ship after that.
I ordered my "All Hands On Deck" and I think the others got something from Pinocchio's or Plutos. We didnt want something really big because dinner wasnt that far off.
I wanted to make these cute "Do you want to build a snowman" kits for Tracy Arm day. We decide to just make them on the ship because it would be easier to bring everything with us than try to male them at home and figure out how to pack them especially since this was the thing I was going to try to give everyone.
I had been working on them a little bit and realized that tomorrow was TA day!
So we spent the time before dinner putting, I think I ended up with, 90 of these kits! I hope people liked them. We did get them done.
We went to dinner and again enjoyed the company of our tablemates.
I really had no interest in seeing the show. Chris and I went back to the cabin and I think this may have been the night we actually got to see "Monuments Men" from beginning to the end.
The review the kids gave the show was extremely poor and in essence told me that I had missed nothing.
I was really beginning to wonder what was happening with Disney entertainment. But the best was yet to come. I truly mean that.

Next Up~ Trace Arm!

My kids loved the snowman kits! Kept them busy building them and kept them quiet eating them!!! And, yes, the show that night was awful! We walked out after 15 minutes....

 

[twindaddy]

My kids loved the snowman kits! Kept them busy building them and kept them quiet eating them!!! And, yes, the show that night was awful! We walked out after 15 minutes....

What was the show?

 

[pascalstongue]

Subscribing to your report. I too love Once Upon a time, I had no idea that the film location is so close to Vancouver. I am definitely going to look into going there and try to convince DH. Was it a long drive?

 

[Arizona Rita]

It is a very easy drive from the airport to Steveton, where OUAT is filmed.
One thing I suggest that if you go in the afternoon seriously consider eating there because the downtown traffic is just crazy at "rush hour".

The show was billed as "Disney Theatrical Robert Creighton". The kids said he had roles on Broadway as Chef Louie from Little Mermaid and something from Lion King.

 

[Arizona Rita]

Tracy Arm~ Day 5~ Pacific Rim Menu~ Adam Ace
In 2010 we went to Alaska on NCL and sailed to Glacier Bay. It is truly on eof those places everyone should see at least once , should be listed as the whatever number wonder of the world. We got in very close and were able to see seals and close to the glacier and on and on.
NCL also had one deck wall that although plexiglass was unobstructed so one had this nice long view and yet protected from the winds and they also had heated deck chairs.
However, with that being said, once again, the Disney difference comes into play.

When I got up I got dressed immediately and started delivering my "Do you want to build a snowman kit". I wanted it done before noon because that ws the time we were scheduled to start sailing into Tracy. It took about 3 trips to refill the bag I was using to get them all delivered.
Who needs to walk around deck 4 times when youre delivering fe's and walking so much?
Since we had the verandah we could sit outside and see all of the sceanery, especially all of the waterfalls pass by. It some areas it seemed like we were very close to the shoreline. We started seeing these little chunks of ice as we were going into Tracy and the closer we got you could feel the weather started to get chillier.
During my runs back and forth to the cabin when I used the elevators people were going up on deck, all bundled up and some carrying blankets. Some people had camped out all day.
Disney had set all the lounge chairs up on deck and had provided blankets.
This is my take on this. Anyone reading and knows something different please feel free to let me know.
We watched Tracy come into view from the cabin and then Chris and I decided to go up to deck 10 to check things out with a better view.
It looked like Dis had taken part of the basketball court and had made games for the kids and had sleeping bags and I could imagine they were playing something like Girl Scout Encampment games.
Disney Difference~ They had bread bowls of soup and hot chocolate and tea so that you didnt have to go inside for lunch. Yes, I was impressed with this.
And it was good.
We later walked by Andy and he had never heard of such a thing. "Soup in bread? What is this?" I asked if he didnt have this in England and he said they didnt. He was just really surprised by it.
We got as far as we could into the Ta but we were told bythe ship that if there were seals they were not allowed to go in very far and if you looked at the water it was really cut up with a lot of ice. You could see more ice than water at some points.
There was a report on my FB book by someone we sailed with that said that was the ship was rotating there was a calfing of ice that they witnessed.
We did see calfing in Glacier Bay and we did hear the ice break then.
Hands down Glacier Bay is better but Tracy Arm is beautiful and awesome too. We weren't disappointed but we knew it just wasn't going to be the same. Tracy Arm is not the only reason we went on this cruise.
We watched the sail out from our verandah.

We played trivia every chance we got today, which was either two or three times. We always came in 2nd or 3rd! But we had fun. Lauren doesnt care to much for trivia so this was our chance to have some down time just with Eric.

Chris and I had our Palo's dinner tonight. We had Eve again. palo's is always good but I think I do prefer the brunch.

Tonights entertainment was good. Adam Ace got not only the kids involved but also a couple of dads. It was funny and the kids liked him.

Next Up~ Skagway!

 

[figment52]

My kids loved the snowman kits! Kept them busy building them and kept them quiet eating them!!! And, yes, the show that night was awful! We walked out after 15 minutes....

Great report!

But I am curious about the snowman kits... do you have pictures or can you describe them for me please?

 

[Arizona Rita]

Skagway~ Day 6~ Prince and Princess~ Premear of Million Dollar Arm~

I love Skagway. I went on my first Alaskan cruise in 1987, fell in love then and have never fallen out of love.
If I was going to drop out of society or run away I've told my family to look for me here.
I think we were docked my 7 and I was off the ship my 730 at the latest.
We were not able to dock at the "photo op" dock position where from main street you have the perfect picture of the ship. We had to dock more on the industrial side, which was fine because that is where the "airport" is and shipping yard. It was interesting and still a nice walk in town. 10 minutes max.
I walked all the way down to the end of main street until the bend in the road lead off into the mountains.
I crossed the street and saw a train coming taking passengers up the White Hall pass and walked closer to the tracks. I waved to the conductor and the first car of passengers saw me and they started waving. I ended up waving to all five passenger cars as they passed on their way up the mountain and into Gold rush territory.
True Disney people know that you wave as the train passes.
Continued on my way back down the street.
Skagway is such a quirky town of 800 people. It is like stepping into "Northern Exposure" and you can almost expect to see RuthAnn, Maurice, Chris, Ed and all the others. It was the inspiration for the television show.
The Kimes store side is where they got the inspiration for the Cicely sign.
For homes you see what I would refer to as the Mayors home, beutifully manicured lawn, picket fence, creek running through it, to converted school buses that Shaggy and Scooby would live in, to coverted Maersk shipping containers with installed windows.
The yards are decorted with old gold carts used as planters, a Christmas tree made from wine bottles as the branchs, many different types of gardens and not on eof these homes with a bad view because they are all sitting at the base of a mountain on three sides.
Why would you come all the way to Skagway or anywhere in Alaska to buy overpriced diamonds. These store show up for the cruise season and when its over board of the windows and follow the cruise lines. The navigators now even mention that stores pay for advertising and its rumored that the cruise lines get a kickback.
My quilt store is still there, however they were not open when I went by.
They have a, new to me, new popcorn and taffy store and I bought some.
It was good and reasonably priced. I was looking for a sweatshirt and asked the kid there and he recommended across the street, Klondike Klothiers.
KK is a good store and I would recommend them.
The second store I went into was like the Emporium on Main Street.
A good store to shop in for souviners and things you have to bring home to the family of "Bring me something from Alaska".
On my way back I got a text from Chris that he and Lauren were going to take their walk into town. I got back to the ship and I couldnt quite tell if the ship wa shaving a drill or they had to move the gangplanks because of the tides.
When they finally got off the ship I we able to get some photos with the ship in the background.
When they returned Lauren and I got ready for our shore excursion.

"Ocean Raft Nature Adventure"!
We, and 15 others, got picked up right off the ship, driven to an area wher ethey had restrooms and encouraged to use them because we would be on the water, in heavy suites with no way to go until we had gotten back.
Then we were driven to a huge shed that the outfit referred to us the "Thunderdome".
We were then greeted by the captain, assistant and naturalist who got us all quickly dressed into what I would think our outter ware from "The Deadliest Catch'. Those things are heavy I felt like I was an orage "Stay Puff Marshmallow man".
We waddled over to our boat. The seats looked like Schwinn banana seats with the little metal handle to hold on to. They were referred to them as saddles.
They had hats, gloves and goggles that you could use. I only used the hat.
Because it was an open smaller boat, with twin engines at about 500hp, we could get very close to the shoreline.
When the captain wanted to get somewhere quicklyhe could speed that boat up and it felt like we were flying.
Eric would have loved it but they had a weight restriction and it would have made Chris sick.
We got amazingly close to the shore and waterfalls.
It must have been eagle season because we saw so many. Lauren and the captain also saw a young bear.
Our naturalist saw great. Very informative and enthusiastic for what she was doing. I didnt get her name and the captains name was CJ.
There were two boys on our boat and after the captain did a 360, to show for for fun, they were shouting this is "Awesome!" ok, so it really was!!

After dinner, Chris and the kids went to see the movie which all three of them said was really good. If you watch "Mad Men" then you will understand when I say that Chris said that "Jon Hamm is Jon Hamm". Don Drapper.

Next Up ~Just some "stuff"~ and then Juneau!

 

[Arizona Rita]

Great report!

But I am curious about the snowman kits... do you have pictures or can you describe them for me please?

I will post photos hopefully soon. I need help posting photos and need DD to help me.
Hopefully today.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Hey Rita. Enjoying your summary of your trip. It amazes how so many people can have such different experiences on the same cruise. I wish I got to play Trivia more, but whales and scenery just got in my way!

 

[Arizona Rita]

Day 7~ Juneau~Toy Story Menu~ Toy Story Party and Show~

This morning I finally got out the last of my FE gifts. I had brought three different things to give out. The last were the little notebooks.
Our shore excursion was an early one for us today, 10:30. The kids didnt want to do anything too early and they thought this was early. Teens and summer!

"Alaska's Whales and Glaciers Photo Safari".
We thought this one sounded like it might be educational and fun. It was.
Lauren wants to major in Interior design with a minor in photography. It would not surprise me if this ended up being reversed. We haven't bought anything from Shutters since she discovered photography.
We were greeted by our naturalist/photographer/guide who's name was Dave.
He was most likely the best we had on this cruise.
He had a power point of his work which he showed his work and gave pointers as we were driving out to Mendenhall.
We parked not far from the Glacier but instead of just taking us off the bus and across the street we did cross the street but further down the street. He showed us where the glacier started and the markers as the glacier receeded over the years. He talked about that, the flora and fauna, how to get the best shows and angles. He was just overall very good.
We ended up at the glacier and ended up right at the waters edge.
Dave had been a portrait photographer for many years, haas a masters in photography. He offered to take anyones "Christmas card" photo, which we took him up on the offer.
We walked around that area for awhile and he took us around the park while the bus was coming to take us to the boat.
Lauren all of a sudden grabbed my arm and said in a concerned startled voice "What is that?!" Dave looked and he said "That would be a porcupine!"
it was so cute. Just hanging out on a tree.
This tour provided a snack on the bus and it was really nice. It was a brown bag with four different things in it. Fruit leather, nuts, chocolate and a granola bar and they gave us water bottles. Very nice.
We got out to the docks and loaded our boat. It was an enclosed boat, I think the capacity was maybe 24 people.
Eric and I have no problems when it comes to small boats, the way they handle the water and the wakes from other boats. Lauren had problems in Italy and Chris just does.
It was rainy and windy and we were going out into the water quite a ways.
I had to keep a very close eye on Chris because in places you could see he was not doing well.
At first we saw a couple of grays and kept the boat kind of by them.
There is a law in Alaska that boats need to keep 100 feet away from whales but its ok if they approach you.
We moved around again and someone noticed that there were these black spots in the water. If you watched closely they turned out to be seals and they were playing! We noticed seals in two or three places.
It was around this time that we spotted an Orca!
I have loved whales, especially orcas, since I was a little girl and my parents took me to Sea World in San Diego and all the craze was over "Shamu"!
I collected whales, did school reports on whales, etc.
Bucket list~ actually see an orca in the ocean~Check!!
He would surface and dive, Lauren got some nice photos and we stayed with him (Dave and captain both agreed that it was a he and could tell he was still young due to his size). We were told that if a whale doesnt come up after about 5 to 10 minutes they have swum off. We stayed in that area for about 10 minutes, just in case.
We had to go back to the docks.
It was most likely the coldest day of the entire trip and it wasnt raining hard, but drizzling strongly and everything was yet.
Eric doesnt get cold and has a strong resistance to cold . It was cold enough to bother him. We were huddled together waiting for the bus to come back and get us. Some in our group had wandered over to the cafe that was on the docks and Dave called out to them that we couldnt wait for them and informed everyone that they are the slowest place in town.
The bus came and those people did not get their coffee.
Ride back to town~coffee. I will take the ride.
When we were headed out to start our day we noticed a dry area, looked like a canal, maybe some type of bay. Coming back to the ship, the tide was definitely in.
Dave gave us his card, info on the company and encouraged us to enter our photos in the local competition and gave us DVDs of a complilation of the companys work, his tutorial was on there, photos of the area we had been.
I was really impressed with this tour. Already wrote about it on Disboards and now need to do it for Trip advisor. Yeah, that good.

I know they did this twice~ I know Ketchikan, and I think here. When we got on the ship after security, CMs were passing out hot chocolate. No need to go to deck 9 for it. Disney Difference~ NCL didnt do that.
Nice touch Disney!
Chris went to the sauna to warm up and found that they had time to get him in for another massage.
I took a shower and then went to the Toy Story Party.
I knew the kids wanted food so they were on their own.
I liked the dance party. I ended up being on deck 3 where all the characters came out. Fliks costume was great. I hand-jived with Woody and danced with Dug. The kids were adorable.
Lauren was up on 4 and got photos of me. Scully left early and Lauren said it was because his costume broke.
Dinner was good but I didnt know some of the names on the menu and neither did our friends so the kids started looking the names up.

Oh Disney~ why did you fail me?
The show was terrible. The costumes for the bigger characters were great. Slinky, Hamm, Potato and Rex were really good.
My kids get on me about this. I didnt say I like the character but I like the song. Sid does this song "Van Goh of Violence" something like that. I like the song.
Buzz sounded like "Barney Fife" and intonation was that of Captain Kirk.
Chris almost walked out. He was so tired he should have.
Jimmy said it was two years in the making. Maybe for the costumes.
Im sorry. It was just bad. If it is on the next cruise we go on, we wont go to this show.
All I can say I say is that they really did save the best for last.

I kind of felt like writing today so you got two chapters.
Next Up~ Ketchikan and maybe misc stuff!