A WONDERful Alaskan cruise in all carry on luggage! May 2016

[tnshsms]

Loved your report and brava for travelling with carryons only! I don't think that will happen for us! It looks like you had some nice sunny weather and blue skies. What were the temps like? I see on the Tracey Arm day that your kiddo is decked out in fleece. Was it that cold on the other days? Should we even bother with shorts?

Laurie

It was pretty cold on TA day....but I think the other days depends on where you are from. I saw a lot of people in shorts but I assumed they were Canadian. Being from the midwest, we didn't even bring shorts. I did bring a couple of tshirts and did wear those around the ship. Inside it was about the same temperature it normally is in the Caribbean on the ship. So if you are from the south, don't bring shorts.

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

It was pretty cold on TA day....but I think the other days depends on where you are from. I saw a lot of people in shorts but I assumed they were Canadian. Being from the midwest, we didn't even bring shorts. I did bring a couple of tshirts and did wear those around the ship. Inside it was about the same temperature it normally is in the Caribbean on the ship. So if you are from the south, don't bring shorts.

Thanks!

Laurie

 

[Angie_Ohio]

This is only my second trip report so I hope you find it useful! We are 2 mid thirty somethings with a 7 year old along from the ride. This was our grand slam cruise (all 4 ships) and our 4th Disney cruise. We had booked this trip while on our Magic cruise last year so we had a year to look forward to it. We have never been to Alaska and we were excited for the wildlife and mountains. This report won't have a bunch of food pictures, sorry to those who are foodies. We enjoy the food but it's not the reason we cruise. So if there is a food picture, it must have been really good!

Specs:
Hotels: Fairmont Airport and Fairmont Waterfront
Activities: Granville Island, Stanley Park, Eagle Preserve Wildlife River Adventure (SW41)in Skagway, Alaska Whales and Science Adventure(JU33) in Juneau, Alaskan Rainforest Sanctuary and raptor center"(KE11) in Ketchikan


We also decided to take the leap and try a carry on only trip. Our 7 yo has traveled enough times at this point we thought she could handle being in charge of her own bag. We didn't want to be without bags when we got to Vancouver and we don't mind doing laundry on board the ship so we wanted to try it. If we needed to check a bag home then we could (our bags expanded but it would be too big to check then) if we needed extra room for souvenirs. We had 3 carry on suitcases and 2 backpacks. 1 suitcase was purely setup to hold what we need in Vancouver. My goal was to not have to get into the other 2 suitcases and we were able to do that. It was tough but we made it!!

We flew to Vancouver from our Midwestern town via a 5 hour layover in Denver. Both flights were uneventful which is how you want every flight to go. The 5 hour layover was a little rough on the kid but dinner and the walking sidewalk right by our gate made the layover go faster.

Since we got to Vancouver at 9pm which felt like 11pm to our bodies, we opted to stay at the Fairmont Vancouver airport. We flew thru customs due to the late flight and electronic kiosks. It was 7 min walk to the hotel from the USA departure and when we got to the bottom of the escalator of the Fairmont the bellman handed us our keys and we headed to the 11th floor. We were all pretty tired so I snapped a few pictures and went to bed.
View attachment 172470 View attachment 172471 View attachment 172472

Here is the front of the hotel from inside the airport.
View attachment 172474
Up Next: Off to see Vancouver!

My 2 DSs and I did a carry on cruise to Europe. 8.5 days Barcelona, Monte Carlo/Monnaco, Piza, Rome, and Pompeii. It was a challenge but we did it too! Pretty much the same reasons as you did it. Space saver bags work like a charm. No formal nights for us though.

 

[tnshsms]

My 2 DSs and I did a carry on cruise to Europe. 8.5 days Barcelona, Monte Carlo/Monnaco, Piza, Rome, and Pompeii. It was a challenge but we did it too! Pretty much the same reasons as you did it. Space saver bags work like a charm. No formal nights for us though.

Once you do it its kind of liberating and now I want to do it for every trip!

 

[TJA]

Thanks for posting the review! We will be first-timers next year, so I'm enjoying every bit of reading about others' experiences.

Simple question, but we were thinking to grab a cab when we fly into Vancouver to take us to our hotel (not booked yet). We'd like a Plan B for getting back to the airport after our cruise just in case cabs are hard to get, and I noticed you did DCL transfers. Is that like Magical Express for WDW (shuttle back and forth between airport and resort)? If so, how do you book it, what is the procedure, and what was your fee. Thanks!

 

[tnshsms]

Thanks for posting the review! We will be first-timers next year, so I'm enjoying every bit of reading about others' experiences.

Simple question, but we were thinking to grab a cab when we fly into Vancouver to take us to our hotel (not booked yet). We'd like a Plan B for getting back to the airport after our cruise just in case cabs are hard to get, and I noticed you did DCL transfers. Is that like Magical Express for WDW (shuttle back and forth between airport and resort)? If so, how do you book it, what is the procedure, and what was your fee. Thanks!

It's not like magical express in that it is disneyfied. If that's a word. it isn't all cute like a Disney bus with Disney movies but it does take you from the port to the airport with little thought process which is what I wanted. It was $25 one way pp. so at $75 for the 3 of us it wasn't the cheapest option. The taxi will be about $40-$45 with tip and I didn't want to fight the crowds to get one. I just booked mine thru the travel agent but I'm sure if you booked thru Disney they can help too.

 

[TJA]

It's not like magical express in that it is disneyfied. If that's a word. it isn't all cute like a Disney bus with Disney movies but it does take you from the port to the airport with little thought process which is what I wanted. It was $25 one way pp. so at $75 for the 3 of us it wasn't the cheapest option. The taxi will be about $40-$45 with tip and I didn't want to fight the crowds to get one. I just booked mine thru the travel agent but I'm sure if you booked thru Disney they can help too.

Interesting, ok thanks. That's what I'm worried about -- fighting the crowds for a taxi when we need to get to the airport. I'm not that concerned when we arrive in Vancouver airport because we're not in a rush to get to our hotel. However, it may be a different story on the way back. I'll have to look into this more, thanks!

 

[tnshsms]

Interesting, ok thanks. That's what I'm worried about -- fighting the crowds for a taxi when we need to get to the airport. I'm not that concerned when we arrive in Vancouver airport because we're not in a rush to get to our hotel. However, it may be a different story on the way back. I'll have to look into this more, thanks!

If you have a flight after 12:30- 1, waiting for a taxi wouldn't be a problem. You would have time to wait for it. It's just hard to know ahead of time how long the line might be and I didn't want to think after we got off the ship. other people have a higher tolerance and that's great, I just want the ease.

 

[tnshsms]

Thank your for your trip report, I am enjoying it greatly so far (so much that I created an account just to comment). We are leaving in 13 days for this same trip with 2 8 year olds in tow AND we are doing the Eagle Preserve (Skagway) and Rainforest Walk (Ketchikan) excursions you did, so looking to get some feedback on those. Can't wait to read more!!

Did you end up up doing the Excursion in ketchikan?

 

[Laura1123]

Great report! Thank you for sharing your experiences.

We sail next May to Alaska and I can't wait. Hadn't even considered carrying on baggage, but now I will. I planned to do wash anyways.

Thanks again!

 

[tnshsms]

Great report! Thank you for sharing your experiences.

We sail next May to Alaska and I can't wait. Hadn't even considered carrying on baggage, but now I will. I planned to do wash anyways.

Thanks again!

I thought my husband was totally crazy when he suggested it but when we started packing and it became apparent it might actually work, it was exciting! Not having to wait at the luggage carousel hoping it shows up was really nice. Ziploc bags were our friends. The ones that have a true zipper top, not just the squeeze together kind because it was easier to get the air out of those. We used probably 20 bags for our trip.

 

[35000ft above!]

Hi!
Thanks for sharing your trip - great photos and tips etc!
I am doing this cruise in Sept this year and love seeing other people reports on the ship, meals and everything as it's my first cruise - it gives me loads of ideas!! Am really blown away by how it is a completely different type of holiday!

Thanks again!!!!

35000ft!

 

[tnshsms]

Hi!
Thanks for sharing your trip - great photos and tips etc!
I am doing this cruise in Sept this year and love seeing other people reports on the ship, meals and everything as it's my first cruise - it gives me loads of ideas!! Am really blown away by how it is a completely different type of holiday!

Thanks again!!!!

35000ft!

I'm so glad you liked it! I enjoy reading others to help me get an idea of how it all works so I always write my experience in hopes that it will help someone down the line. Its my way to pay it forward! Have fun on your first cruise, you will be hooked!