All about Alaska

[Alisa0934]

Going on my first Disney cruise in June. We have our excursions picked out. What are the not to miss events on the ship?? My husband and I love food, wine, and have an 8 year old boy to entertain too.

 

[sdjen]

There is so much to do that you will not be able to do it all. I have enjoyed reading the Navigators from the Alaskan cruises last year to get an idea of the schedule and what is offered. That may help you narrow down what you won't want to miss. Have a great cruise.

 

[xlxo]

Some thoughts...

• June? Hope you have your Vancouver hotels booked. There is a massive FIFA Womens event during June where they have downtown hotels booked.
• which sailing are you on? We can provide you some local seasonal opportunities and ideas.
• Hope you have extra days in Vancouver to enjoy the bonus port. It's much bigger than all the all the Alaskan ports combined. A week is not enough for some.
• does the little one like gelato and chocolates? There's some not to be missed places to check out.
• While waiting for your PAT boarding time at the terminal... don't miss the bonus character photos in the waiting area.
• try getting the earliest PAT time to enjoy the welcome lunch before it closes at 2pm.... you paid for it.
• don't be in a rush to leave the Wonder too soon. Enjoy the breakfast.... you paid for it.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Go to the Trip Reports and look up past cruises.

 

[Prose]

If you like food and wine, you'll have plenty to do! Check the daily Navigators for tastings - wine, liquor, martinis, etc. They also hold mixology classes, where you learn to make variety of cocktails. Also listed in the Navigator will be daily cooking demonstrations by one of the chefs.

For your son, definitely keep an eye on the movie schedule. Disney will show first-run movies on board, and if a movie premiers in theatres while you are sailing, they will "Prem-Ear" it onboard at the same time.

On Tracy Arm day, the temptation will be to hang out on the top deck all day to catch the scenery, but there will be photographers and characters in special costumes on deck 4. We didn't learn that on our sailing until it was too late!

One note of advice - we sailed on the Wonder to Alaska in June, and were very happy we packed mittens and hats. When the ship is moving, there can be quite a wind chill!

 

[KristiMc]

Your son will love the Oceanear Lab. Palo Brunch would be great for you and your husband. We are on the June 8th sailing and I can't wait.

 

[Alisa0934]

I heard there were some great tastings. We will look into that. Would love cooking demos too since we are "foodies"

I will look at the past cruises to see some of the events. We are on the June 22nd cruise. We already booked our hotels. Good tip! It was getting difficult to find a decent one that wasn't sold out.

Has anyone done the fish extenders? It sounds like fun but could be a lot of work. Thoughts???

 

[dotfurio]

Alaska was our first DCL last summer. You'll love it!

One thing I was meh about but was glad I did was the shows. They were really well done and entertaining.

Not really an event, but the best tip I got was to always have my camera with me. We
Ran into random characters all the time.

Another tip is Check out the adult lounges. One of them had board games and a snacky buffet - we spent a lot of time hanging out there.

 

[cbonebt]

Do people or kids go in the pools during Alaska cruises

 

[dotfurio]

Not too many adults, though the pools are heated. We hung around the kids pool with the slide while our youngest played. That always had kids in it during afternoons.

We saw some adults occasionally in the hot tubs and the adult pool. We brought our suits but in the end the idea of getting out into the cold air in a wet swimsuit just wasn't appealing.

 

[jetskigrl]

Do people or kids go in the pools during Alaska cruises

My DS was in the pool and using the slide so much more in Alaska than any other cruise we have taken The water was really warm and he enjoyed being able to go on the slide over and over again. I was chatting with the lifeguard on duty and he said my DS was probably warmer than we were standing outside (this was on Tracy Arm day). More people used the pools on the sea days because it was sunny on those days.

 

[Luvzmy3boys]

We spent way more time in the pools on Alaska cruise than Bahamas cruise year before because they were not so crowded...highs were in the 50s. Hot tubs were quite pleasant. The pool was heated and kids had no problem with it. CMs brought up some ice from the glacier that had broken off on Tracy Arm day and left it by the pool for pp to check out. Kids loved it and we got some great photos of them in their swimsuits leaning on the huge block of glacier ice. Getting out of the pool was painful though.

 

[jetskigrl]

We spent way more time in the pools on Alaska cruise than Bahamas cruise year before because they were not so crowded...highs were in the 50s. Hot tubs were quite pleasant. The pool was heated and kids had no problem with it. CMs brought up some ice from the glacier that had broken off on Tracy Arm day and left it by the pool for pp to check out. Kids loved it and we got some great photos of them in their swimsuits leaning on the huge block of glacier ice. Getting out of the pool was painful though.

That was one thing that we missed on Tracy Arm day and I really regretted it. I wanted to see the ice when they brought it on deck but I never heard when they brought it up so we didn't get to see it. We were all over the ship that day (deck 10, around the pool, deck 4 looking for characters, LOL). We were just not in the right place at the right time.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

I have never done an Alaskan cruise with Disney, but from my experiences on NCL, I would make a few recommendations:
-Get up early one morning to watch the sunrise. It was beautiful paired with the scenery there!
-Check out the spa on sea days (especially with the kids club for your son to go to). There's nothing like a nice hot stone massage or steam room when you are visiting somewhere chilly.
-This probably goes without saying, but be sure to bring lots of layers. Also, I would suggest not to wear a dress up on any of the decks; it was way windier there than any other cruise I have ever been on!

 

[ForMyBoys]

On Tracy Arm day, the temptation will be to hang out on the top deck all day to catch the scenery, but there will be photographers and characters in special costumes on deck 4. We didn't learn that on our sailing until it was too late!

One note of advice - we sailed on the Wonder to Alaska in June, and were very happy we packed mittens and hats. When the ship is moving, there can be quite a wind chill!

Thanks for the advice! Did they not list the characters in the navigator? Or did they list them but you didn't realize they were in the special costumes?

 

[Donald & Daisy Duck]

We are going in August and cannot wait. Glad you posted about the characters on deck 4

 

[jeffbear]

My wife and I will also be doing a DCL cruise to Alaska this July. Keep suggestions coming.

We're really looking forward to our first non-Caribbean cruise of any kind.

 

[xlxo]

My wife and will also be doing a DCL cruise to Alaska this July. Keep suggestions coming.

Which sailing in July? Vancouver has evening fireworks on select days you might want to check out.

 

[Alisa0934]

Is there anything to not miss in Vancouver in June? We are going to be there on June 20th and sailing out on June 22nd.

 

[xlxo]

Is there anything to not miss in Vancouver in June? We are going to be there on June 20th and sailing out on June 22nd.

• As mentioned in my previous post... I hope you have your downtown hotels secured in June to minimize problems with FIFA.
• June 21st has Round 16 prelim Fifa Women's game in the nearby BC Place statium
  http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/organisation/ticketing/
  
• OMG.... Sunday June 21st is also CAR FREE day. You might want to plan for a Grouse Mountain and Capilano Suspension Bridge day to avoid downtown congestion! This is NOT a day to use the Hop On services.
• Any Greek cruisers? The Greeks celebrate Vancouver on that weekend. http://www.greekday.com/
• post cruise.... have you considered staying extra two or three days in Vancouver? The Olympic Cauldron will likely be lit and evening fireworks will fill the night around the cruise terminal for July 1st.