Anyone back from Alaska yet?

[disneyfaninaz]

Nice catch on the breech!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Wonderful picture!

 

[MommyMeNDisney]

View attachment 100332 Just got off the Member Cruise. Awesome time, we could not have had any better weather. DVC had a Broadway show special for the members that included the original Mary Poppins, Tarzan, and Mufasa among others. It was, by far, the best show I've ever seen on a Disney ship. We also had some FANTASTIC weather this past week.

The ship is in good shape and everything is in working order. The only thing that was a slight disappointment was the buffet. Note that it closes at 2pm sharp, even if you are in there (no 2nds...).

Cruise was awesome and we got a lot of great gifts...

Awesome picture!

 

[tidefan]

tidefan, was that picture taken from the ship or a tour?

A tour. We went with www.juneauwhalewatch.com. Did the glacier and whale watching. I'd highly recommend them. Ask to be on the jet boat...

 

[tidefan]

Nice catch on the breech!

I'd like to take credit... But my wife actually got that with her iPhone 6.

 

[pixie*duster]

Just a few more days and maybe we'll have some more Alaska info!

 

[Kimberly1]

Can't wait. So excited to see reports from those on the Wonder now.

 

[emilyann415]

That picture right there is one of the main reasons I want to go to Alaska. That is the only way I want to see a whale, not at a park! Awesome picture, thanks for sharing!!

I will say FWIW it is unusual to see a whale breach while in Alaska. They mostly dive because they are eating massive amounts of food during the summer. It is more common to see them breach when they are south in the winter living off the stored fat from the summer. They are still AMAZING to see and you are right.....seeing them in a park just absolutely CANT compare!

 

[Tink_N_Neverland]

Looking forward to info, amazing photo! Hope we get to see wildlife like that!

 

[nrexxma44]

Hi just off the members cruise, I don't think i will be much help in answering your questions as I just realized we never even ate at the buffets. We had a Frozen dinner menu and a Frozen party that night (similar to the Pirates Party, without fireworks), and then another night they did a Toy Story Show in the lobby, don't have the details as somehow i missed it. The shows were amazing, and the Broadway show especially for members was fabulous. The Wonder is in great shape, the scenery is breathtaking, make sure you spend lots of time on deck as we had whales, dolphins, sea lions and the occasional eagle as guides. The weather was sunny in the 70s or 80s every day and not a spec of rain. I will figure out how to upload pics tomorrow.
Oh the CC gift was the backpack, it was empty, but they may be because they gave us so many DVC gifts!!!

 

[MelSpees]

I will say FWIW it is unusual to see a whale breach while in Alaska. They mostly dive because they are eating massive amounts of food during the summer. It is more common to see them breach when they are south in the winter living off the stored fat from the summer. They are still AMAZING to see and you are right.....seeing them in a park just absolutely CANT compare!

It is exciting to see humpbacks, which this is. I don't believe you'll be seeing any of them in parks. They're too big. You see Orcas in parks. They're really neat to see in the wild also.

 

[COASTIEandMATE]

Aloha!! Please give us some more info on your very special DVC Alaska cruise!! We can't wait to hear and see!!

 

[poison ivy]

We were on the DVC Alaska Member cruise also.
Here are some pics of the gifts we received our first night.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/20...se-5-25-5-31-15.3293741/page-50#post-53816460

We stayed at the Pan Pacific; biked to Stanley Park in Vancouver;.did the White Pass Rail and Dogsledding excursions in Skagway; Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Watching in Juneau; Halibut fishing charter and visit to Creek St in Ketchikan.

Alaska is so beautiful. We loved this cruise!

 

[sunryzez]

We stayed at the Pan Pacific; biked to Stanley Park in Vancouver;.did the White Pass Rail and Dogsledding excursions in Skagway; Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Watching in Juneau; Halibut fishing charter and visit to Creek St in Ketchikan.

Did you do the whale watching/Glacier with Disey. We went back and forth a million times between booking privately and booking with Disney and we chose to do it with Disney in the end. Im hoping it is a great excursion? Thanks for any info!

 

[bjakmom]

We are also staying at Pan Pacific, visiting Stanley Park, doing White Rail Pass and Dogsledding (privately with Chilkoot) and the Mendenhall and Whale Watching (with Disney) excursions. I'd love to hear how they all went for you. My DGrD11 and DNiece14 are so excited now - they both text me every day with their countdowns! lol

 

[poison ivy]

Did you do the whale watching/Glacier with Disey. We went back and forth a million times between booking privately and booking with Disney and we chose to do it with Disney in the end. Im hoping it is a great excursion? Thanks for any info!

We only used Disney for the dog sledding in Skagway.

We booked whale watching privately with the company "weather permitting" which unfortunately wound up having to hire another boat for our tour - both captains and crew were really great.

Our price included door to door service with a stop at the glacier.
(view to disembark at Juneau from the ship - we were picked up right at the dock via private taxi where you see the busses just beyond the red roofed pavilion)



We were given close to 2 hrs to tour Mendenhall glacier first thing in the morning - arriving around 8 am before the visitor center opened at 9.This worked out fantastic as we had the place practically to ourselves to enjoy and photograph in the early hours.

We were easily able to walk to the falls which is a good mile each way.






By 9 o'clock several tours had arrived and the crowds really picked up.

Our cab driver then drove us to and from the marina and finally dropped us off in town. Couldn't ask for better service.



We had a smaller boat with our own personal tour guide much easier to navigate the waters and personalize our viewing compared to the larger boats used for Disney.

Our Boat - comfortably seated 12


]





Here's a larger boat - used for cruise charters (this could have been Disney or Princess or Holland this day)




for comparison, here is another boat almost identical to ours which gives an idea of the viewing experience on a private charter vs larger group.

 

[poison ivy]

We are also staying at Pan Pacific, visiting Stanley Park, doing White Rail Pass and Dogsledding (privately with Chilkoot) and the Mendenhall and Whale Watching (with Disney) excursions. I'd love to hear how they all went for you. My DGrD11 and DNiece14 are so excited now - they both text me every day with their countdowns! lol

great choices - the Pan was such a beautiful hotel



and to be standing right at Canada Place when the Wonder docked was the greatest feeling.



Stanley Park is HUGE. How are you planning to visit? We biked the seawall loop http://www.tourismvancouver.com/do/activities-attractions/biking-in-vancouver/biking_stanley_park/ which was a good 6 miles plus the trek to and from Canada Place.



(be careful which rental co you use - prices vary) We used Seawall Rentals - cheapest we found at $8.00/hr. They rent 'til 6pm.



I do not recommend walking this! it looks much closer than it is and would be too hard on the kids.
Here we are only partially on our way headed to the bridge which is basically the halfway mark.



You can drive or bike or tour by bus/trolley. The vehicles have access to all the main tourist points along the way but I didn't see the roadway at times along the loop.

We booked Chilkoot for the White Pass Rail but did the 1 way rail/bus without the stop at the dog camp. (our dogsledding was via helicopter on the mountain)
Eventhough the train is parked outside the ship, you will board a different rail waiting at the end of town. The driver will be pick you up via shuttle right at the dock.



Chilkoot uses the last car in the train for their charters and we shared our car with the group stopping at the camp.
Sit on the left facing front (right side in this photo) for optimal sights if you take the train up and ride the bus back.



You will LOVE the last car. great viewing platform off the back.

 

[pillow]

Love your pictures. Where is the bike rental place located?

Jodie

 

[jtba]

We booked Chilkoot for the White Pass Rail but did the 1 way rail/bus without the stop at the dog camp. (our dogsledding was via helicopter on the mountain)
Eventhough the train is parked outside the ship, you will board a different rail waiting at the end of town. The driver will be pick you up via shuttle right at the dock.

Chilkoot uses the last car in the train for their charters and we shared our car with the group stopping at the camp.
Sit on the left for optimal sights if you take the train up and ride the bus back.

You will LOVE the last car. great viewing platform off the back.

thanks for including the pictures! we're doing the same tour, except we'll bus up and train down.

speaking of which, would you recommend that we sit on the right side of the bus/train, then, since it's the opposite from your experience?

 

[bjakmom]

WOW! Thank you, your pictures are amazing!!
Thanks for the heads up re: the size of Stanley park. Very different than what I envisioned. The smaller whale watch boats look like the better choice - I will save that for trip with DH and go with my instinct that my one girl will enjoy the excursion more on the larger boat with more room to move about and not be a challenge to a smaller group. She also cannot handle a bike, so I was going to walk the park, but looks like I should check out an on and off bus tour instead. I am still torn between taking them to Grouse Mt and Capilano bridge on our full day in Vancouver before the cruise and then Stanley Park on return day before spending the night at the airport - or do the reverse. And then they may override me once they see Vancouver and beg to hang out in the city.lol And now dear friends who live less than an hour out of Vancouver are wanting to try and meet up with us. We know it will be awesome no matter what we do!
In Skagway we are doing the Chilkoot bus up, dogsledding and lunch, and train down - thanks for all the wonderful tips!! The helicopter/dogsled combo must have been AMAZING!! That one will have to stay on my bucket list for future trip further into Alaska.