Ahhh, Alaska! A Disney Wonder PTR Cruise Date 6/11/12 COMPLETED PTR

[AAshleySEG]

Hi everyone! My name is Andrea aka AAshleySEG.

This is going to be my very first TR. Why, you may ask, have I not done one before? Well, the truth of the matter is that I never really thought about it. I have read other TR's before and found them very helpful to me when planning trips. I have also been on numerous Disney vacations. It seems only natural that I should have done one already, well I haven't. I guess I never really wanted to put the time necessary into making a really good one, and I didn't want mine to fall short. So this time, I am planning early, getting everything together, and going step by step, so my TR will be as complete as possible!

I know our trip is still around 5 months away from today which is January 17th, BUT, I am already planning everything so I thought why not let you guys tag along and find out what exactly I am doing at the moment!

To start out with I am going to tell you a little about myself! I am 27 years old and am of course am in love with everything Disney! I am married to my amazingly wonderful husband Jeremy (30). Pictured below, this was 2 weeks before our wedding on June 16th 2007.

I have been to WDW numerous times, beginning with a trip in 1990 when I was 6 years old, from which the ONLY thing I remember is waiting in line to ride 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and then being too scared to get on it. I have no idea why that is what memory lives on...but it is, most likely because I cannot ever ride that particular attraction again. The second time I went to Disney was definitely more meaningful. I had Leukemia when I was 11 years old and was fortunate enough to be able to go on a Make-A-Wish trip to WDW in 1997. I have so many wonderful memories from that trip that I will cherish forever. That is the trip which started my Disney FEVER! Jeremy and myself have been to Disney, more times now than I can count. I wish I had counted when we started going...unfortunately me being the person that I am...we did not. However, Jeremy and I got engaged at MK in front of the castle during Wishes! He couldn't have done it at a more perfect moment, I know everyone knows the part of Wishes which states "Now let's all put our hearts together and make a wish come true?" Well THAT, is when he proposed. We spent our honeymoon at DL in California

Our first, second and fourth anniversary was back at WDW!
and our 3rd was at DL in Paris!

SO, that brings us to our 5th Anniversary! I can't believe how fast time has gone. Alas, the older you get the faster it goes. Before Jeremy and I got married we had a list of all the places we wanted to go together, we have been checking places off of the list ever since. Most are actually attainable, and some are just down right Fantasyland goals Alaska was NUMERO UNO on that list! And this year, we are finally able to make it come true! We are so excited about it, not only are we getting to go to Alaska! We are getting to go to Alaska WITH Disney!!! But wait it gets even better than that for us! We are HUGE Baseball people with the Dodgers being our team! We bleed Dodger Blue We are making it a point to try and visit all of the Major League Baseball stadiums in the US, and so far have been to 14 of the 30. Since the WONDER leaves out of Seattle, we get to add another one to our list! And BONUS, the weekend of the 8th the Dodgers are playing the Mariners in Seattle!! It could not have worked out better for us!!! Luckily our anniversary lies with that cruise, otherwise we might not have been so lucky!

So to wrap this all up, I am going to be doing a trip report for the Disney WONDER Cruise to Alaska on June 11-18, 2012. Also, I am throwing in a Pre-Trip report of Seattle, for anyone interested in pre or post days in the city along with their cruise : So in my next post I am going to let you guys know what all I have planned so far! Hope to see you then!

Countdown: We are off!

Chapter Links:

The Plan, will it really happen this way???

[URL="http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44387039&postcount=5"]Packing List, Geez, do I really need all of this stuff?

List O' Links, They helped me plan, maybe they will help you too!

Cruise Documents, It is getting really close now!!

Link to the Full TR Page~! [/URL]

 

[AAshleySEG]

Alright everyone, let's get the ball rolling! I am a big Itinerary Girl, I know I know, they are not for everyone, for me an itinerary is maximizing my time in a place where I don't have very much time. For the Cruise there will be no itinerary, I want to let it play out as it does. Of course there are certain excursions and things that we would like go on, but we are really just gonna fly by the seat of our pants for that portion. So we are going to Seattle on the 8th of June, the cruise is on the 11th-18th. So for our pre-trip portion we are going to have a few days to hang around the city! Which is great because we can check a stadium off the list, and get to spend some time doing things we have always wanted to in Seattle!

During our time in Seattle we are going to be staying at the Mayflower Park Hotel, it is right downtown and seems to be very convenient to everything. Including the Monorail, and Light Rail Train, StreetCar, as well as buses, because the buses in downtown are free to use within the downtown city limits (Only until 2013)! Which is great for us because we are big users of public transportation. To get the feel of a city we like to use what the locals use! Now where was I, oh right, so here we go with the Tentative Itinerary for our trip!

Friday, June 8th, 2012:
Flight from Charlotte to Seattle leaves at 7:44am and arrives in Seattle at 10:16am. We are planning on taking the Light Rail from the airport to the Hotel, checking in and probably take a little rest time to get acclimated to our new destination. From 2:00-5:00 we want to do a tour with Savor Seattle called "Gourmet Seattle Tour"
"Experience how Seattle does “gourmet!” Embrace upscale comfort food and F.L.O.S.S. (fresh, local, organic, seasonal, and sustainable) as you enjoy a progressive meal at Seattle’s best restaurants and hot spots. From appetizer to dessert, you will eat your way through Belltown, downtown Seattle, and Pike Place Market. Visit seven tasting locations, including 5-6 restaurants with a bonus stop at the renowned “truffle cafe,” where Seattle chefs source fresh truffles, aged balsamic vinegars, and boutique Italian wines. At the seventh stop, cap your evening off with authentic Italian gelato or Japanese green tea tiramisu.
Enjoy a relaxed pace and comfort of sitting down at nearly every other stop of this restaurant-focused food and cultural tour."
I think it sounds pretty awesome, we always love to check out the food scene in a town we have never been to! So hopefully this will actually work out for us! After the tour we will more than likely walk over to Safeco Field for the Mariners/Dodgers game that night at 7:15pm. After that head back to the hotel for bed!

Saturday, June 9th, 2012:
Since we are on vacation afterall we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to rest before our cruise, because we want to make sure we maximize our time on it! So we want to get all the rest we can before we go! With that in mind I am not planning anything in the mornings just so we will be able to sleep in and get used to the time difference if need be. So when we wake up we are going to walk over to the Olympic Sculpture Park and hang out for a bit, then we want to head to Red Mill Burgers in Interbay, I have heard so much about these burgers that I really don't want to leave Seattle without having one! We have another Baseball game to go to today at 4:15 this afternoon but want to get there early because Safeco has this thing called "The Pen" where the first 1000 fans get in early at the center field entrance gate and we definitely want to be there for that! After the game we really don't have any other plans this evening, maybe an early evening in resting?

Sunday, June 10th, 2012:
Today is our last full day in Seattle before the cruise and so to start it off we are going to do another tour with Savor Seattle, this time the Pike Place Market Tour,
"Join us for the Market’s original Pike Place Market food and cultural tour! Become a market insider on this behind-the-scenes adventure to experience the sights, sounds, and flavors of this historic 104-year old landmark. Meet the Market’s lively characters and hear their memorable stories. See fish fly, cheese being made, and the original Starbucks store. Our tour guides are past and present members of the Pike Place Market community. These intimate friendships with Market merchants ensures you will always receive special treatment. From Iron Chef winner Tom Douglas, to world famous fish throwers, come meet our Market family!"
Sounds fun right, well it does to us, and thats all that really matters I guess because it is our vacation! The 3rd and final Mariner/Dodger game we are going to is today at 1:10. After the game is over we want to go and eat at Serious Pie, which is a Tom Douglas restaurant and supposedly has some of the best pizza ever, and I cannot pass that up, and it is also pretty close to our hotel, which is another plus! Another night, not sure yet what we are going to do after dinner. We are having a little Pre-Cruise Dis Meet-Up today at the game also! Excited about that!

Monday, June 11th, 2012: DISNEY WONDER CRUISE DAY!!!
The morning we have been waiting for has finally arrived! Today at 11:00-11:30 we have a boarding time for our WONDERful cruise! Online check-in is already completed, so that part is set! At 3:15 we are meeting in the Promenade Lounge for our DisBoards Meet-Up! Muster Drill is at 4:00 usually so we will do that and then go to the Adventure's Away Party! I will try not to cry whenever I hear the ships horn for the first time in person...as I type this I get a little misty eyed...literally...no seriously!! I am not kidding, I just sniffled We don't have dinner until second seating so we will have to wait and see what is going on, on the ship to make any other definitive plans!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012: At Sea, I WONDER what surprises await us on the day at sea?? Well I know already that we have a reservation today for Brunch at Palo at 10:30am, Other than that, we will have to wait and see!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012: Tracy Arm, Alaska!

Thursday, June 14, 2012: Skagway, Alaska
So we have decided against doing an excursion today as of the moment...We were originally thinking about doing Best of Skagway, Hike & Raft, Glacier Lake & White Pass, or Yukon Keep Adventure. After talking to each other about it. When I think of Alaska, I think Wilderness, Beauty, Animals, Great Outdoors, etc. I don't think Panning for gold or brothels. Therefore, nothing against anyone else who chooses to do these things because as I said, we were definitely thinking about it, but we have decided to go to the Visitor's Center when we arrive, get a Trail Map and a Walking Tour Map and go it on our own and go hiking! We will have been on a boat for a few days and so we want to see Alaska, and on our time, not a scheduled planned out, you have 15 minutes in this location type guided experience. We might change our minds, and may regret it once we see what the weather will be like, but for now, it is our plan!


Friday, June 15, 2012: Juneau, Alaska
There is a place I found out about in this port called Tracy's Crab Shack, I think, that is supposed to have some of the BEST Alaskan King Crab in Juneau, so we definitely want to check that out, as far as excursions go, We are going Whale Watching with Weather Permitting Alaska, It is the #1 rated thing to do in Juneau and it fits in our theme of seeing the real Alaska. There are only 8 people maximum that can go on this with us, not some huge boat with 40 people. And so far we know 2 of the other 6 anyway. I think it is going to be a much more personalized experience this way, plus they bake fresh homemade brownies for us, what could be better than that? Oh right, I remember it is also less expensive than the cruise line whale watching excursions, they pick us up and drop us off right from the dock too! We also keep getting little updates from Captain Greg, he has a great facebook page if anyone is interested in seeing it!

Saturday, June 16, 2012: OUR 5TH ANNIVERSARY!! Ketchikan, Alaska
Since this is our special day, I am trying to plan a surprise of sorts for Jeremy. Knowing me, I won't be able to keep it long, I usually am really bad at keeping surprises but nonetheless I will try. I have booked us a Flight-Seeing Experience today with Island Wings. The #1 rated tour for ketchikan on trip advisor. I have read numerous reviews and cannot wait to do this. It is a 1 1/2 hour flight on a float plane to the Misty Fjords National Monument, plus a 30 minute stopover to rest and look around! This one is also less expensive than all the flight-seeing excursions booked via the DCL. There is also another random seafood shack we want to check on in this port of call, I believe it is called Alaskan Surf? Anyway it is supposed to be awesome! Tonight we have dinner reservations at Palo for 8:30, so I am looking forward to that for a lovely anniversary dinner as well!

Sunday, June 17, 2012: Victoria, Canada
I am really shocked that we are going to a port for only 4 hours, that seems like a really really short amount of time, but oh well no matter, I think we have decided that we are not going to leave the ship, it is our last cruise day and we want to spend our dinner and try and relish all of the moments we can on the cruise!

Monday, June 18, 2012: Last Day
We arrive back in port at 9:00am and our flight doesn't leave until 10:10PM that night, we have a red-eye back to NC,Our plan as of the moment is to take our luggage and have it stored for the day so we can explore Seattle again! The first thing we hope to do is go Kayaking on Lake Union (I got a great groupon deal for $18 for a 2-person kayak for 2 hours) I highly recommend checking out groupon if you are going to be spending anytime in cities, they have great stuff on there! After kayaking we want to have lunch at Duke's Chowder House, I am a chowder freak and apparently they have some award-winning chowder there, plus it is waterfront and has outdoor seating, lovely in the summer! When lunch is over we are planning on going over to Chihuly Garden and Glass and the Space Needle for 3 hours or so and then to dinner before we have to go and get our luggage and head to the airport! We have a few places we are deciding for dinner that night, I will list them and you guys can guess which one we choose if you want...
Choice #1: Brave Horse Tavern
Choice #2: Le Pichet
Choice #3: Steelhead Diner
Choice #4: Collections Cafe

I am planning lots of Play By Mouse Ear Time, because I KNOW there will be plenty of things to do and explore on the Wonder! So until next time everyone! Have A Magical Day!

 

[pixie08]

I'm in. We are definitely going to run into each other! We are landing on June 8th, and want to tour the harbor. On Sunday we were also planning on hitting Serious pie...too funny. I'll have my face glued to a camera...that's how you can spot me

thanks for the heads up on the seafood shack in Ketchikan. I may check that out, i am still not sure what we are doing that day.

 

[AAshleySEG]

This is just going to be a little update guys of a few changes that have been made since my original itinerary!

First off , we have one more cruise payment to make tomorrow, Friday the 9th, and it will be paid off completely! Yay!! That means when March 25th rolls around we will be able to make some Palo ressies...if there are any still available, as well as 2 more excursions when we decide exactly which ones we really want to do. I keep hearing stories about the weather and them making some of the excursions kind of pointless, but oh well I am not going to dwell on the negative! I am going to keep everything happy! SO....

We made a reservation for a whale watching excursion in Juneau with "Weather Permitting Alaska"...hehe...just their name alone made me want to book with them! I looked up Alaskan cruise excursions and they are the #1 rated excursion in Juneau. I had thought about doing the whale watching through the cruise line but it seems like those boats would be crowded? I am not really sure since I have never been, but it was just what I would expect. So anyway back to Weather Permitting, they only allow 6 passengers on the boat, which to me sounds really intimate and amazing! Captain Greg keeps sending me funny little emails and I even got a postcard in the mail saying that he has coordinated with the whales and they are looking forward to spending some time with us! I love little touches like that! They really make my day, he also updates all of the whale activity on his facebook page! Not enough, you even get freshly homemade brownies! How good does that sound, I know really good...well unless you don't like brownies but I totally do! AND to top it off, over on our cruise date thread I already met 2 of the other 4 that are going with us! Can you believe that? So I would say I am very happy about the choice that I made with that one!

I am in the process of making a packing list...I add things to it all the time when I think..hmmm, I bet I might need that on the cruise. I have also been looking at the Alaskan Cruise Navigators from last years to try and get an idea of the times everything happens. I know it will be different, but I really want to make a res for Palo, but I don't want to miss out on anything for our first DCL experience! I am so torn on what to do, everyone I talk to says YES you must go to Palo...so when the 25th comes I will check the availability and go from there, I am going to stay neutral on the matter until I find out, A) if there are any times available and B) will the time possibly interfere with something on board that I might want to do. I mean I can always cancel it too right, if there is something I just do not want to miss? I am not sure about the cancellation policy of Palo reservations?

On a much more awesome note, we got and FE list started for our cruise!! Yay!! I have read so much about them and seen all of the fun little gifts people have gotten. Even though we are 2 adults with no children, it still seems like a whole lot of fun to do the FE stuff, and even decorate our state room door with magnets and things! I am such a Disney nerd but I love it! Even DH is, which is why we make such a good couple I found an FE that I really like and am going to order it really soon, tomorrow more than likely! As soon as I get it, I will post some pics of it. We are trying to come up with the perfect FE gifts for our Alaskan Cruise adventure! We have thrown around some really fun ideas that I have not seen anyone do yet so fingers crossed that some of them will work out! There are actually on 4 cabins on the FE List as of the moment and that is including us, so if it stays so small I will be able to do multiple things which I am happy about because like I said, we have so many different ideas, and that way I might get to do them all!!!

Alright guys! I think that is about all for this update! I have another TR in progress from the One More Disney Day trip that we just got back from. Whoa was it crazy, but such a blast! If anyone is interested I will post the link for it here too
ONE MORE DISNEY DAY Trip Report!

 

[AAshleySEG]

Preliminary Packing List for our trip! I am sure I will add and remove things as times goes on and it gets closer to our trip. I will also probably reconsider things based on how much actual luggage space we have! I know...I am going really overboard on this list, but like I said I want to be prepared, and it might help you remember something you forgot? Who knows!

Airline, Hotel, & Cruise Tickets/Confirmation Numbers
Baseball Game Tickets x 3 Games
Kayak, Chihuly, Space Needle, Savor Seattle Tickets/Confirmation Numbers
Excursion Information
ORCA Cards for Seattle Transportation
Passports & Driver's Licenses
Medical/Insurance Cards
Debit/Credit Cards & Cash
Hard Rock Cafe All Access Card
Prescription Drugs/Medications (Seasickness, Headache, Cold, Stomach etc)
Small First Aid Kit (We are gonna be hiking in Skagway, so just in case)
Bug Spray/Sunscreen/Lip Balm/Hand Sanitizer
Ear Plugs (In case there are loud children, ship noises, anything really)
Watch
Glasses/Extra Contacts/Solution/Case/Sunglasses
iPads/earphones/chargers/loaded with books & movies/SD Card adapter/cables
Journal/Pencils/Pens for taking notes, used for Trip Report and Magazine
Contact Cards for new friends with email/facebook/disboard name, etc.
Addresses of people at home for postcards and stamps
iPhones/chargers
Flashlight(s) random just in case small ones
Fish Extender and zip ties to keep it on the fishy (Scissors to cut off the zip ties)
FE Gifts for our cruise mates
Door Magnets and Door Decor for our stateroom door!
Plastic Bin to Store FE Gifts/Leave and Return
Folder for Navigators/Other Cruise Documents
Camera Equipment: DSLR, Lenses, Tripod, Extra SDHC Cards, Extra Batteries,Battery Charger, Lens Filters, Camera Bag, Waterproof Camera Bag
Binoculars
Reusable Water Bottles (for Savor Seattle Tour)
GPS for Geocaching

Clothing (Andrea Only) Jeremy wings it when he packs...ugh.
Jeans (1)
Ballet Flats (1)
Light Long Sleeve Shirt (3)
Hoodie (1)
Short Sleeve Shirt (6)
Brooklyn Baseball Cap
Socks (6)
Dress (4)
Shawl (1)
Formal Dress (1)
Pair of Heels (1)
Bathing Suit (1) Cover-up (1)
Undergarments (Lots)
Long Sleeve Wicking Shirt (2) Short Sleeve Wicking (1)
Running Jacket (1)
TNF Rain Shell (1) w/hood
Waterproof Hiking Shoe/Boots (1)
Beanie (1)
TNF Gloves (1)
Dress Pants (2)
Cardigan (2)
TNF Hiking Pants (1)
Basic Jewelry (Necklace, Bracelets, Earrings)
Sleepwear

Updated 5/2/12

 

[bftrainer]

My family will be on the cruise with you! We are totally excited too. I am enjoying your TR. Thanks for sharing.

 

[AAshleySEG]

My family will be on the cruise with you! We are totally excited too. I am enjoying your TR. Thanks for sharing.

I am glad you are enjoying the TR! We absolutely cannot wait to go on the cruise, it is coming up very quickly! Thanks for reading!

 

[marciemouse]

We just took our first cruise on the Wonder earlier this month. Definitely do Palo! Both brunch and dinner were fabulous! I posted about brunch already in my TR. Alaska is so on my list now that we know we enjoyed cruising. Maybe next year! Looking forward to the rest of your report!

 

[AAshleySEG]

We just took our first cruise on the Wonder earlier this month. Definitely do Palo! Both brunch and dinner were fabulous! I posted about brunch already in my TR. Alaska is so on my list now that we know we enjoyed cruising. Maybe next year! Looking forward to the rest of your report!

I am really enjoying your TR! I can book Palo starting tomorrow at midnight! So we will see if I am successful... I hope you guys will get to go to Alaska soon! Thank you so much for reading!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

I just found and read your TR - you really have a lot to be excited about!! I love that you and your husband have goals to accomplish together, and am jealous that your husband likes Disney almost as much as you - I am still really working on mine, but it isn't going as I'd hoped lol I look forward to reading more

 

[AAshleySEG]

I just found and read your TR - you really have a lot to be excited about!! I love that you and your husband have goals to accomplish together, and am jealous that your husband likes Disney almost as much as you - I am still really working on mine, but it isn't going as I'd hoped lol I look forward to reading more

Yeah, I am very lucky to have my hubby! I don't know what I would do if he didn't enjoy Disney Hopefully yours will come around, even if it takes a little bit! I am happy you found my TR! Hopefully I will do justice since I am new at these things... Thanks again!!

I am excited about tomorrow night guys! It is the day where I can do check-in and reserve Palo and everything else! I will update you all as soon as I get some info on what I managed to get, also my Fish Extender shipped today, so as soon as I get that I will puts up pics for ya! Have a magical day!

 

[pixie08]

Good luck

 

[AAshleySEG]

Hi guys! I am putting another little update on here today about what has been going on!

So this morning at 12:01AM I logged onto my Disney Cruise Planning Center and started booking! Unfortunately all of the High Tea Reservations at Palo were already sold out Oh well, I am sure I will get one sometime! But the good news is that I was able to book Palo for Brunch on our first sea day for 10:30am! I am keeping my fingers crossed that our Character Breakfast will not be that day, but hopefully even if it is, I will be able to change it to another day The other good thing that came of of me staying up was that I was able to book our Palo Dinner for 8:30 the night of our 5th Anniversary! That is the Ketchikan night, so I am also hoping I won't be missing any Pirate Party, Dessert Buffet, Captain's Anything...I know I am not going to be able to experience everything I want on the cruise, but I am going to be a little disappointed if I do. I only wish that Disney would give you a little heads up about when certain things were going to take place, only so I could make an informed decision about when to make such reservations! BUT, I did get a Brunch and Dinner so I don't have too much to be upset about, I mean I can always cancel them if there is something I definitely want to do right??? Well I hope I can anyway!

I chose not to make any reservations for Victoria, BC. I have absolutely no idea what we are going to do there, or if we are even going to get off the ship at all. That is going to be our very last cruise night and I don't think I want to miss our last dinner which would be right in the middle of the time we will be there I think I will be alright though, it is definitely not going to ruin our cruise because we missed Victoria, I mean, we were going on a cruise to Alaska, not a cruise to Canada, and besides if I really wanted to see Victoria, I could always plan a short trip there some other time, and then go to Vancouver too, so there!

The other cool thing was that I got my Fish Extender in the mail today!! I thought it was really really cute, I bought it on Etsy from FairyTaleEmbroidery. I absolutely love the way it turned out!

I also got a few more things to put in other's FEs! So if you happen to be going on our cruise please join us, I think there are 7 families total now, so I think we are going to have fun with it! So, with that I am going to try and update our itinerary a little bit with the changes that I have made, Check-In went lovely, all of our information is in the system, printed out, signed and ready to go! Have a magical day everyone!

 

[marciemouse]

That FE is insanely adorable! I love it!

So glad you got brunch and dinner booked at Palo. I wouldn't worry about high tea. You have a decent chance of booking it once on board.

 

[AAshleySEG]

That FE is insanely adorable! I love it!

So glad you got brunch and dinner booked at Palo. I wouldn't worry about high tea. You have a decent chance of booking it once on board.

Aww thank you! I saw it and knew instantly that it was perfect for us! I love it, and am super excited about doing FE! I think it is going to be a blast!

Quick Meltdown Update!
We are running into a small issue. I am having to condense everything because of our flights. I think it is $25 for the first checked bag, but if it weighs more than 50 lbs then it is $90 for it! AHHH So our suitcases that we are checking weigh 13 lbs by themselves, so I am going to have to weigh everything extra carefully to make sure that our bags are not overweight. We decided to use the shampoo/conditioner/bodywash/soap that the hotels and the cruise give us, but I put a small amount of my own shampoo/conditioner/bodywash into the little bottles that you get from Disney World. Just in case we happened to run out we would actually have some. I chose to do that because those little things only weigh I think 1.8 oz each as opposed to taking my large bottles which hold over 12 fl oz each so they weigh almost a pound themselves.
Each month I get a little thing called a birchbox with samples in the mail. Fragrance samples, face wash and all sort of other stuff. I also chose to take sample sizes of everything to save room, that way I can take like 8 different fragrances in sample sizes as opposed to 1 bottle which is 10 times the size! I wish we lived close enough to drive because this is a huge hassle. But I think it is ridiculous to pay possibly $180 extra each way just because my bag weighs a little over 50lbs....I mean we are going to be gone for a total of 12 days! Give me a break sheesh, and we have to pack for hiking, possible cold or warm weather, formal night, dinner attire, Palo attire, swimsuits, baseball game stuff, pirate night stuff, FE stuff...and on and on and on! I think I am getting overwhelmed a little here! I need to breathe... We set aside an entire couch in my husband's art studio, just to start accumulating things we knew we were going to pack. Just so when the time comes around we will be able to find everything easily and not be running around like chickens with our heads cut off looking for the less drowsy dramamine I know I bought but can't find... Off to work on FE Gifts some more!
Have a magical day everyone!

 

[pixie08]

I know we are having similar issues. When we went to the Med it wasn't so bad because we had shorts, tanks and little dresses but for Alaska, we have sneakers fleece, rain jackets hats etc. there is a lot to carry. Make the most of your carry on as well. I am going to pack all my clothes for Seattle in there and my fleece if I can!

 

[AAshleySEG]

I know we are having similar issues. When we went to the Med it wasn't so bad because we had shorts, tanks and little dresses but for Alaska, we have sneakers fleece, rain jackets hats etc. there is a lot to carry. Make the most of your carry on as well. I am going to pack all my clothes for Seattle in there and my fleece if I can!

Yeah! I am thinking I will pack all of my heaviest items in my carry-on and then repack everything the actual way I want it when we get to Seattle. But I know I am definitely not going to be able to take everything I want to, I just don't see how I can fit everything in unless I bite the bullet and pay all of those extra fees which I absolutely do not want to do...LOL But then I keep thinking, well darn what if I buy souvenirs, or have loads of FE gifts to bring back. It is just something that I am going to really have no control over and I just need to relax and not worry too much about it!

 

[Pixie Princess]

I am so happy I found your PTR and TR!!! Alaska is tops on my bucket list too, and am planning to do the AK cruise in June 2013. I am wanting to spend a few days prior or post cruise at DL. I have been dying to go there as well, and if I'm going out west, I might as well right?

You and your DH are just too cute! Sounds like y'all have tons of fun together. I love me some baseball too, and am very jealous of you visiting 14 MLB parks! I was so focused on squeezing DL in that I hadn't even thought of trying to catch a Mariner (or Angels or Dodgers for that matter we make the CA pit stop as well) game.

Your fish extender is adorable! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[jedijill]

Joining in! I really want to go to Alaska next year.

Just a suggestion/hint....think about shipping a box ahead to the hotel and/or ship a box home with your extras. Much cheaper than paying baggage fees. When I went to DL, I found a Fed Ex store where I shipped my souvenirs home so I didn't go over weight (plus one item was too big for my luggage!)

Jill in CO

 

[AAshleySEG]

I am so happy I found your PTR and TR!!! Alaska is tops on my bucket list too, and am planning to do the AK cruise in June 2013. I am wanting to spend a few days prior or post cruise at DL. I have been dying to go there as well, and if I'm going out west, I might as well right?

You and your DH are just too cute! Sounds like y'all have tons of fun together. I love me some baseball too, and am very jealous of you visiting 14 MLB parks! I was so focused on squeezing DL in that I hadn't even thought of trying to catch a Mariner (or Angels or Dodgers for that matter we make the CA pit stop as well) game.

Your fish extender is adorable! Can't wait to read more!!

Aww thank you!! Yeah we try and squeeze in games wherever we can...LOL Angels Stadium is SUPER close to DL, so it might be worth it to see what you could do! California is crazy with 5 different baseball stadiums. We have only been to Dodger Stadium and Petco Park in San Diego. Once we went to California, I keep trying to find ways to get us back there, I absolutely love the LA area, it is amazing! Thanks so much for reading!! I can't wait to spill out some more info...hehe!

Joining in! I really want to go to Alaska next year.

Just a suggestion/hint....think about shipping a box ahead to the hotel and/or ship a box home with your extras. Much cheaper than paying baggage fees. When I went to DL, I found a Fed Ex store where I shipped my souvenirs home so I didn't go over weight (plus one item was too big for my luggage!)

Jill in CO

Thanks for the suggestion! I think we are going to ship all of our FE stuff/Door Magnets/etc to the hotel beforehand, I think that will help a lot! I hope you do get to do your Alaska trip! Thank you so much for joining in, I hope I give everyone some information they are looking for! Have a great day!