Alaska 2016

[Disneyteachers]

Last year after I booked our Alaskan cruise, I researched things like crazy. Then, the cruise was sooooo far away, I focused on other things. Now, we are getting close as our PIF date is early April. This is our first time cruising and I am looking for some advice. We will be traveling with friends and would like to book palo dinner.

What is the chance that we will be able to book before getting on the ship?

Does anyone have a sense of the rotation/speciality nights?

Are there new menus on the wonder or the same as there has been for at least the last year? (I know Palo changed.)

Would like to book some beverage tastings once on board. How essential is it to be on the boat ASAP to do it? I like to be early so that shouldn't be an issue, but I'm not sure the extended group will be on the boat at the earliest opportunity.

 

[Viviene Anthony]

Hello. DH and I will be on the Alaska cruise itinerary in August. We're also first time cruisers with some of the same questions as you, but just by perusing the boards I've had many helpful experienced cruisers share good advice. Maybe someone can answer your questions here or add links to various threads that would be helpful to you.

 

[Disneyteachers]

Hello. DH and I will be on the Alaska cruise itinerary in August. We're also first time cruisers with some of the same questions as you, but just by perusing the boards I've had many helpful experienced cruisers share good advice. Maybe someone can answer your questions here or add links to various threads that would be helpful to you.

We are on the 8/1 sailing, what about you?

 

[Viviene Anthony]

The 15th - to the 22nd, so our PIF date is mid April. Like you, I booked a year ago and I left it be until recently because it seemed so far away and now I'm getting so excited gathering all the information I can. I will probably get to hear about your trip before we go if you post about it!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Last year after I booked our Alaskan cruise, I researched things like crazy. Then, the cruise was sooooo far away, I focused on other things. Now, we are getting close as our PIF date is early April. This is our first time cruising and I am looking for some advice. We will be traveling with friends and would like to book palo dinner.

What is the chance that we will be able to book before getting on the ship?

Does anyone have a sense of the rotation/speciality nights?

Are there new menus on the wonder or the same as there has been for at least the last year? (I know Palo changed.)

Would like to book some beverage tastings once on board. How essential is it to be on the boat ASAP to do it? I like to be early so that shouldn't be an issue, but I'm not sure the extended group will be on the boat at the earliest opportunity.

Chances are fair to good. Just keep checking the excursion booking window for Palo, if you don't get it on your first look. And, a number of reservations are held back to be booked onboard the ship. If you are unable to book pre-cruise, just look at the Navigator and see where the Palo dining changes are being handled on embarkation day and go there to inquire about making a reservation.

The most recent Alaskan cruises don't have a Pirate night, but did have Frozen night.

There are a few Alaska-specific menus that the Wonder has. You can check out the various menus here:
http://disneycruiselineblog.com/menus/

 

[Pooh2]

We are first time cruisers and were not able to get Palo brunch for our upcoming cruise to Alaska. We've been checking back every few days in case something opens up. We did not check for dinner.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are first time cruisers and were not able to get Palo brunch for our upcoming cruise to Alaska. We've been checking back every few days in case something opens up. We did not check for dinner.

One reason is there are fewer brunch options than dinner. Dinner is available every night. Brunch is only available on sea days.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

One reason is there are fewer brunch options than dinner. Dinner is available every night. Brunch is only available on sea days.

. . . and Tracy Arm day.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

. . . and Tracy Arm day.

Well, that's sort of a sea day.

 

[Drusilla99]

This summer the Alaska cruises aren't showing a special frozen night ☹, just the Pixar party, which is late afternoon, so I don't know if that will change once on board.

 

[xlxo]

Hello. DH and I will be on the Alaska cruise itinerary in August.

The 15th - to the 22nd, so our PIF date is mid April.

Hope you have your Vancouver August hotels secured.... Vancouver is hosting the Americas Masters and hotel rooms will be in high demand for pre-event training.

 

[Viviene Anthony]

Hope you have your Vancouver August hotels secured.... Vancouver is hosting the Americas Masters and hotel rooms will be in high demand for pre-event training.

Thanks, but we'll be flying into Vancouver the morning we sail and flying out the day we return, so no need to book any lodging. Wish we could be in town for Americas Masters, though... that would be cool.

 

[Aby]

On our first DCL cruise to Alaska in 2011 we too were unable to secure brunch reservations ahead of time, however, we had no problems once onboard the ship when we went to the area in the navigator designated for dining changes. Good idea to keep checking back regularly online though, as people do tend to change and move their plans around, but if that doesn't work, you should be able to get something on board.

The 15th - to the 22nd, so our PIF date is mid April. Like you, I booked a year ago and I left it be until recently because it seemed so far away and now I'm getting so excited gathering all the information I can. I will probably get to hear about your trip before we go if you post about it!

We are on the same cruise!!

Aby

 

[Viviene Anthony]

We are on the same cruise!!

Yay!! I'm pretty sure I have read some of your tips on the boards and have seen some of your posts on our Disney Cruise Meet thread.

 

[Disneyteachers]

Hope you have your Vancouver August hotels secured.... Vancouver is hosting the Americas Masters and hotel rooms will be in high demand for pre-event training.

Based on your advice last year for the first wknd in Aug, I booked the Pan Pacific really early. We have two days in Vancouver, Sat (1/2 day) and Sunday. Doing a morning whale watch on Sunday (seeing orcas is something DD11 and DH want to do above all else so here's hoping) and Saturday hoping to do Capilano. Understandably, the traffic (pedestrian and vehicle) will be nuts the whole wknd so I'm keeping my expectations low.

 

[Disneyteachers]

This summer the Alaska cruises aren't showing a special frozen night ☹, just the Pixar party, which is late afternoon, so I don't know if that will change once on board.

I guess we will have to wait for the first few cruises. I have no interest in the parties and neither will my kids so however that works out is fine with me. I more interested in the menus connected to those nights so we can better plan palo on a night with a meh menu (right now the taste of Alaska menu looks skippable, but I don't know what night that is.)

 

[Drusilla99]

I guess we will have to wait for the first few cruises. I have no interest in the parties and neither will my kids so however that works out is fine with me. I more interested in the menus connected to those nights so we can better plan palo on a night with a meh menu (right now the taste of Alaska menu looks skippable, but I don't know what night that is.)

I booked the palo brunch. Though I do love the dinner, I've always enjoyed dinners in the mdrs and don't like missing that family time my kids. Now that they are teens, dinner seems to be the only time we see them on the cruises.

 

[Aby]

I guess we will have to wait for the first few cruises. I have no interest in the parties and neither will my kids so however that works out is fine with me. I more interested in the menus connected to those nights so we can better plan palo on a night with a meh menu (right now the taste of Alaska menu looks skippable, but I don't know what night that is.)

From my research on last years cruises, the rotation was most often something like this:

Day 1 - embarkation - standard rotational menu, cruise casual
Day 2 - sea day - standard rotational menu, formal night
Day 3 - sea day/Tracy arm - standard rotational menu, cruise casual
Day 4 - Skagway - Frozen menu, cruise casual
Day 5 - Juneau - Toy Story menu, semi-formal night
Day 6 - Ketchikan - Taste of Alaska menu, cruise casual
Day 7 - sea day - Till we meet again menu, cruise casual

As others mentioned, so far no frozen night is showing up so far, but they could still do the menu. It seems like almost every year the rotation went through some shuffling around, and I would expect this year to be the same. I think we'll have to wait and see when the first few cruises come back.

Aby

 

[jenpink]

As others mentioned, so far no frozen night is showing up so far, but they could still do the menu. It seems like almost every year the rotation went through some shuffling around, and I would expect this year to be the same. I think we'll have to wait and see when the first few cruises come back.

Aby[/QUOTE]

I am on the May 30 sailing and there is a frozen deck party listed for day 4, the day we are in Skagway

 

[AngelDisney]

We went on the August 24 Alaskan Cruise last year. I was able to book Palo Brunch at 10 am for the first sea day and Palo Dinner at 6 pm on Tracy Arm Day when online check-in opened up. The views sailing out of Tracy Arm during dinner was amazing. We enjoyed brunch more than dinner, and we booked brunch again for the last sea day during our Palo Dinner. We will definitely book for both brunch and dinner again if we are cruising Disney.

We checked the rotational menus for the 3 restaurants online and determined to skip Parrot Cay's. Once the first Alaskan cruisers were back, we had an idea of the dining rotations. Then we put on a dining rotation request on our reservation and it worked out well as we skipped Parrot Cay on Tracy Arm Day as planned.

Hope this helps and have fun planning!